Yu-Gi-Oh! Reality's Curtain
by Master Of Anime224
Summary: The city of Nishihama, Japan. A young duelist named Matsuda Yukaro has his life turned upside down by the appearance of a strange woman, an off-putting classmate and a shady group whose goal he cannot begin to guess at. But as he tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding these things, he discovers that his curiosity may unravel reality itself... Cover edited by ThatLoneAvenger
1. HEROs Awaken!

"What the hell is going on here, and who the hell are you?" A boy, around seventeen, stood panting. His hair was black with red streaks and ran down in large spikes to his shoulders, jutting out diagonally downwards. This hair covered a single violet eye, the visible one a portal of determination.

"Who I am is of no importance, and as for what's going on, I was merely… extracting information." The speaker's voice was female, and she was garbed in a pure black cloak, loosely hugging her figure. A single blonde spike could be seen underneath the baggy hood, as well as a small smirk, as if she was enjoying what she was doing.

"Sorry, but to me, holding a guy over the edge of a tall building doesn't count as 'merely extracting information'!" He pointed to the terrified man currently held in the woman's loose grip, dangling precariously on the brink of becoming a bloodstain on the street.

"Well, I asked nicely, but he wouldn't tell me anything," she said.

"And that justifies this crap?"

She smirked. "Yes."

The boy pulled out a futuristic device with a touchpad seeming to almost cover its entirety, strapping it on his wrist. "Alright, I suppose it was rude of me to ask who you are without introducing myself first!" He pushed a button on its underside, and the device sparked into life, a protrusion erupting from it to be parallel to his arm, which he held out almost in challenge. "I'm Matsuda Yukaro, and I challenge you to a duel!"

* * *

**HEROs awaken! Wrath of the terrifying light! **

_A few hours earlier…_

"And now, Masked HERO Dark Law (Lv. 6, ATK: 2400) will finish you off!" A bipedal humanoid wearing all black with a pointed mask ran at a girl who stood at around five and a half feet tall, with long, dark blue hair and thin-rimmed, square glasses covering magenta eyes.

She was skinny, lacking prominent curves, and wore a dusted blouse with a straight, knee-length, sky blue skirt. Oddly enough, she wore a headband matching the colour of her hair with a pair of white cat ears protruding from it, which was enough to garner plenty of odd looks. Almost as if she wasn't being attacked, she wore a calm demeanour and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose before pressing a button on her duel disk.

"I'm afraid he won't, Daitaro," she said. "I activate my face down Spellbook of Fate. By banishing my Spellbooks of Secrets, the Master and Power from my graveyard I can banish your Masked HERO Dark Law." A portal to the Different Dimension opened and intercepted the speeding Dark Law, engulfing the monster before closing.

"Aw, come on!" groaned Daitaro. "I was so damn close! Alright, I end my turn. Your go, Kaneko."

"Then I draw!" Kaneko dramatically pulled a card from the top of her deck, a white light seeming to trail the path of the card. "And first, I'll activate the effect of my Grand Spellbook Tower, returning Spellbook of Fate from my graveyard to my deck and drawing again!" She took the card from her graveyard, placing it at the bottom of her deck before drawing once more, increasing the number of cards in her hand to four.

"Perfect. I now reveal three Spellbook spells in my hand to special summon this monster." She showed Daitaro Spellbook of Eternity, Spellbook of Life and Spellbook of Secrets before continuing. "Wizard of eternity, show thy face. Studying ancient tomes to increase your vast knowledge, change the world! Rise, level eight! High Priestess of Prophecy (Lv.8, ATK: 2700)!" A buxom young woman wearing tight, short white robes appeared, her pink hair flowing down wildly. "Now finish him! Wisdom Caster!" Blue electricity sparked at the end of her staff, subsequently being fired at Daitaro.

He tried to dodge, but to no avail. The lightning struck him and exploded, sending him flying backwards, landing heavily on his back (Daitaro LP: 1600 – 0).

The two duelists heard a slow clapping coming from off to the side as the holograms faded away, leaving a city plaza in the place of the Grand Spellbook Tower. They turned to see none other than Matsuda Yukaro approaching, wearing a black t-shirt with a pattern of three large silver circles intersecting the points of a triangle with three smaller circles having the sides as tangents and a single circle in the middle, all the circles touching, emblazoned on the front. He also wore a pair of midnight blue shorts and white training shoes.

"Wow, good show guys." He smiled. "But Daitaro, you suck."

Daitaro, still grounded, instantly sprang to his feet and paced over to Matsuda menacingly. He towered over Matsuda, who was already tall, at a staggering six feet and two inches. He was by no means skinny, but wasn't really built either. He had the same dark blue hair and magenta eyes as Kaneko, but his hair was worn short, spiking up wildly. He had tanned skin and wore a red tank top, white long shorts and straw sandals.

He stood looking down on Matsuda, glaring. "What the hell was that?! I nearly had her!"

"Whatever, dude." He looked over to Kaneko, covering his mouth from Daitaro's view before speaking at normal volume. "Your brother sucks."

Suddenly, Daitaro collapsed dramatically to his knees, depression lines seeming to emanate from him and a river of tears falling from his eyes. "You're right!" he moaned, "I even get schooled by my little sister! I suck!"

A drop of sweat formed on the back of Matsuda's head as he looked at Matsuda with a mixture of worry and confusion. "Uh… you don't suck that hard…"

Kaneko sighed, walking over to the two as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'm only ten minutes younger than you."

"And she is like, a genius. So it isn't that bad," said Matsuda.

Without warning, Daitaro sprung back to his feet, now beaming. "Hey, thanks! So, when'd you get here?"

"I think a better question is why are the two of you duelling in the middle of the plaza?"

"Loser carries all the crap." Daitaro pointed at a stack of boxes and bags almost as tall as he was sat by a white fountain. The plaza was surrounded by shops, and it looked as if they had emptied all of them.

"Could you not have just carried your own stuff?" said Matsuda.

"Two of those bags are mine."

Matsuda's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "SERIOUSLY?!" He turned to Kaneko. "Who the hell needs that much stuff?! We go back to school tomorrow, not shelter from a nuclear holocaust!"

"I saw some things I liked," she said, shrugging.

"That's not some things," said Matsuda, "that's just everything! Where did you even get the money for this crap? You have a part-time job, you're not a millionaire!"

"That's enough of the hyperbole, I get it. I bought a lot of things." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Well, good luck bro." Matsuda gave Daitaro a pat on the back before strolling over to the leaning tower of shopping and placing his single bag on it. He then turned away and began walking with Kaneko.

Streams of tears again started flowing from Daitaro's eyes. "Oh, come on! You're not even gonna help?"

"Sorry, you lost. Rules are rules. Now, you wanna go get something to eat? You're paying!" He held a brown wallet in the air, the wallet being emblazoned with a symbol that had a head, a body, three spikes indicating wings and a long, thin tail.

Daitaro furiously patted his pockets before a vein threatened to burst from his forehead. He picked up the comically large pile of purchases before running after his friend and sister. "Get your ass back here, Yukaro!"

Kaneko giggled as Daitaro chased the roaring Matsuda.

* * *

"Damn, that was a stupid day…" Matsuda sighed as he relaxed back against a white wall. Soft sand was his seat, the gentle lapping of the ocean his view. The dazzling blue shone in the light of the setting sun, as if the entire surface of the water was coated in diamonds. It was truly a beautiful sight; something that Matsuda enjoyed greatly.

"Nishihama, you are damn beautiful…" Nishihama, a port city of Japan, indeed looked beautiful as the sun set, the flawless beach stretching as far as the eye could see. The city itself was an urban sprawl, covered in high-rise buildings and digital billboards, vast plazas flanked by sleek skyscrapers. The city was clean, and crisp, the advanced technology giving it a futuristic feel and an appeal to tourists and long-time residents alike. Indeed, Nishihama was a marvel to behold for people far and wide. During the day, holographic monsters would battle to the death throughout the city's parks and plazas, and at night the city lights would twinkle in the darkness like stars.

Matsuda gave a relaxed sigh as he leaned back, his head resting on his hands. This was the last day of summer break, the last time he could enjoy a day like this for a while. Ten minutes surely couldn't hurt…

* * *

The midnight hour fast approached, darkness having overtaken Nishihama. As distant stars shone in the night sky, a shadowy figure raced across the high rooftops of the city, pursued by another. The chase was fervent, both hunter and hunted running as if their lives depended on it. Who knows, maybe they did. The one being chased hopped over a small gap, leaving only dust in his wake as he landed, rolled out and continued his desperate attempt at escape.

His pursuer wasn't far behind, also leaping over the gap from roof to roof, landing and continuing her run with a renewed vigour. The cloak she wore loosely hugged her figure, enough to show that she was indeed female, the single blonde spike of hair protruding from her hood swaying wildly in the gentle breeze as she continued to sprint. And she was beginning to gain on him.

The pursued was running out of breath. He had just about pushed his stamina to the limits, and being on a roof, he didn't really have anywhere else to run. As he reached the end of another rooftop, he was offered a respite, but his relief was bittersweet. This was the end of the line. Looking down, he saw a road, and the gap to the next rooftop was far too large for any normal human being to come even close to jumping across. The woman chasing him seemed superhuman, so maybe she could manage it, but he definitely couldn't. So he turned to face his hunter.

She gave an unseen smirk upon seeing her prey stood still. There was nowhere else for him to run. She finally had him. Of course, she wasn't expecting what he did next. Because there was nowhere for him to run, except towards her. At least he was smart enough not to stay at the edge where she could just throw him off, but attacking her was a stupid move too. Not that he'd ever witnessed proof of that, so maybe he could be forgiven. Maybe.

He rushed towards the demon he could not escape. If flight wasn't an option, then he'd have to fight. With the two both sprinting at each other, the momentum of the clash would be phenomenal, and if he could land a hit, he could probably stun her long enough to run back the way he came. He was confident in his ability to at least sucker punch the woman, since this would be the last thing she'd expect. He could only hope she wasn't made of iron.

The hunter smirked as her prey rushed straight at her. This had just gotten a lot easier. As their paths were about to cross, he cocked back his fist and launched a thunderous right. Had it hit, it probably would have done some serious damage. But it didn't. She ducked under the strike, grabbing the man's arm and pulling him along as she ran, albeit slowing down. She shifted her grip to his collar before hefting him above her and slamming him down into the hard rooftop.

He gasped as all the wind was knocked out of him. Maybe she had seen it coming after all. Or maybe she was really a monster. It didn't matter, though; she had him. He coughed up a glob of blood as she stamped a heavy boot into his stomach. He let out a strangled cry as she grabbed his collar and dragged him over to the edge of the building, but nothing came of it. She stood, her arm extended, him held loosely over a five storey drop.

She glared down at her prisoner coldly, before adopting a psychotic grin and dropping him. He tried to scream, but he was too shocked. He was going to die. He shut his eyes and waited for the end, but it never came. He slowly opened them to see his captor still glaring down at him, her hand wrapped around his collar.

"That was just so we're clear," she said. "Now, I think it's about time you gave me some answers, don't you?"

* * *

"Goddammit, who the hell oversleeps on a beach? Mom's gonna kill me…" Matsuda was running, and given the time, he couldn't really be blamed. He did have a home to get to, after all, and school in the morning. It was his last year, he couldn't really be running around at near enough midnight. He continued bolting through the deserted, darkened streets, desperate to get back to his home, not least to avoid the worst of his mother's ire. That woman could be damn scary. However, Matsuda Yukaro wasn't the kind of guy who could ignore it when he saw someone in trouble.

So when he saw a man being suspended precariously over the edge of a building, he couldn't, in all good conscience, just run past and put it out of his mind. So he stopped. He surveyed the building, making sure he wasn't seen, and found a fire escape inside a narrow alley. So what else was he to do but climb up it to the rooftop and confront the cloaked woman torturing a helpless man.

He stood with his duel disk active and ready, prompting a smirk from the woman. She picked the man up and threw him to the roof's surface. "We'll finish this later." Even as he opened his mouth to speak, she planted a boot across his cheek, evicting him from the world of the waking.

Matsuda growled. "What the hell was that for?"

The woman gave him a cold glare. "You have absolutely no idea what's going on here, do you?"

"I know that you're tormenting that poor guy!"

"'Poor guy'? You really are naïve."

"Just shut the hell up and duel me."

"Fine." She pulled a duel disk from inside her cloak, strapping it on and activating it. "For now, you may call me Lady Light. I hope you're prepared to get crushed, Yukaro."

"Lady Light?" He snorted. "That's a stupid name."

"The reasons will become apparent soon enough."

Both duelists slid their decks into their designated slots. "DUEL!"

Matsuda: 4000  
Lady Light: 4000

"I'll start," said Lady Light, drawing her five card hand and examining the contents. "I set one monster facedown and end my turn." A set card appeared horizontally before her.

"Nice move," said Matsuda, sarcasm lacing his tone. "My turn. Draw!" He practically ripped the top card from his deck, adding an oh-so dramatic flourish as he did so. "All right! I'll start by summoning Cosmic HERO Motivator (Lv. 4, ATK: 1500) from my hand!" A shirtless man with tattoos along his arms appeared, blue hair sticking up and a pair of pointed sunglasses on his face. He wore a huge grin and gave Matsuda's opponent a thumbs-up as he appeared.

"And that's not all!" Matsuda continued. "I'm gonna equip him with the spell card Giga-Mech from my hand!" A huge, red robot appeared, with a face where its chest should be and no head. Motivator jumped into the open mouth of the mecha, with the mouth closing behind him and the giant robot bursting into life.

Lady Light sighed. "Clearly some card designers watch too much anime…"

"Giga-Mech gives Kam- I mean, Motivator an extra five hundred attack points! So now he's gonna attack your facedown monster! Super Manly Kick!" The robot ran seamlessly at the set monster, but Lady Light gave no indication of concern. In fact, she smirked.

A mechanical foot was brought down on the set monster, revealing a small white puppy (Lv. 1, DEF: 100) which wasn't destroyed.

"You flipped my Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter," said Lady Light. "And when he's flipped up, I can target a card on the field and destroy it as long as I mill three cards from my deck." She took three cards from the top of her deck and sent them to her graveyard. "So I think I'll make like Gainax and kill off your Motivator!"

The mecha which housed Cosmic HERO Motivator shattered into pieces as Ryko sunk its fangs into its foot whilst it died, causing tears to stream from Matsuda's eyes. "It's like episode eight all over again!" He quickly perked back up, however. "But it's not all bad, because when Motivator is sent to the graveyard, I can draw a card!" He drew an extra card. "Wonderful. I'll set two cards and end my turn." Two reverse cards appeared at his feet before quickly disappearing.

"Very well. Draw." Lady Light drew her card with no dramatics at all, merely adding it to her hand before selecting another card. "I summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (Lv. 3, ATK: 1000)!

"See, now the name's starting to make more sense," said Matsuda as a woman with short, fair hair wearing a white robe appeared on the field before him.

"And now I'll activate Lumina's monster effect! By discarding one card from my hand, I can resurrect one Lightsworn monster from graveyard that's level four or lower! And I choose Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn!" Lumina held up her hands and a green glow seemed to envelop the field. Before long, a large, shirtless man with very well defined abs, black hair, a large blue scarf and black pants holding onto a golden, cleaver-like blade materialised next to her (Lv. 4, ATK: 1700).

"Crap," said Matsuda.

"Now for Raiden's effect," she said. "I yard two cards, and if a Lightsworn monster happens to be among them then he gains two hundred attack points until the end of the turn!" She picked two cards from her deck and looked at them, smirking as she placed them in the graveyard. "One of the cards I milled just so happened to be Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden! Now, not only does Raiden get his attack gain (ATK: 1700 – 1900), but Minerva lets me mill an extra card!" The spirit of a pure white dove appeared and took the top card of Lady Light's deck back to the graveyard with it.

"Now, I think I'll attack you directly. First up, Lumina, attack with Luminous Life Force!" The same green energy that had revived Raiden suddenly enveloped Matsuda as he felt his strength begin to drain from him (Matsuda: 4000 – 3000).

"And now, Raiden, Assassin's Raid!" The Lightsworn assassin disappeared in a blur, appearing behind Matsuda, his blade at the ready.

"Hell no!" shouted Matsuda. "I activate my trap, Satellite Shield! This negates a direct attack from my opponent's monster!" A satellite appeared in Raiden's path, producing a shield of crackling blue energy that Raiden's blade just couldn't penetrate.

"In that case, I end my turn. And during my end phase, Lumina mills three cards, and Raiden mills two, so the top five cards of my deck go to the graveyard. It's now your move."

"Alright, my turn. Draw!" He drew his card, adding it to his hand and thinking hard. _Why is she milling herself out? That's a risky strategy, so she's gotta be setting up for something, but she's gone through almost half her deck by now. Why would she do that? I guess I gotta figure that out as I go, huh?_

"Alright, it's time to kick this into warp drive! I normal summon Cosmic HERO Planetes (Lv. 4, ATK: 1400)!" A man with rock-like skin appeared, his skin glinting like stars. He wore a black toga and had waist-length, blonde hair. "And his effect allows me to special summon another Cosmic HERO monster of a different level from my hand when I normal summon him! So say hello to Cosmic HERO Infernus (Lv.3, ATK: 1300)!"

A man made entirely of fire appeared next to Planetes, the flames emanating wildly from him. "And he burns with the heat of the sun, so when I special summon him from my hand, I can tribute him to destroy one monster you control!" Matsuda grinned. "And I'll choose Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn!" Infernus literally exploded, the flames converging upon Raiden and engulfing him, the monster screaming as he shattered into pieces. Lady Light merely looked on, emotionless.

"Battle phase! Cosmic HERO Planetes attacks Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner! Go! Wandering Star!" The glint of Planetes' skin got brighter until he was a shining beacon of light, rushing at Lumina. As he reached her, however, his path was blocked.

"I banish Necro Gardna from my grave to negate your attack." Lady Light held up the card before slipping it into her pocket.

Matsuda growled. "Fine. I'll end my turn there, then."

"And I'll draw!" She added another card to her hand. "And I'll discard the card I just drew to revive Raiden!" Raiden reappeared on the battlefield. "And the card I discarded was another Minerva, so I can mill again." She sent another card to her graveyard.

_There she goes again…_

"And I'll use Raiden's effect." She milled twice. "No Lightsworns this time, but it doesn't matter. I'm about to show you one of the true heroes of the Lightsworn!"

Matsuda looked at her quizzically. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm going to tune the level four Raiden with the level three Lumina!"

Matsuda gasped. _A synchro summon?_

Raiden turned into four green rings, surrounding Lumina, who flew into the rings. Lumina then dispersed and became three white, star-like spheres. A light erupted from them and enveloped the rings and the stars.

"Bringer of light, as darkness falls, may your purging luminescence bring back the realm of that evanescent glow! Become the light that purges shadow! Synchro summon! Level seven! Shine, Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn (Lv. 7, ATK: 2600)!"

What came from the light was a paladin wearing golden armour, a helmet completely covering his head. The armour had golden wings, and the paladin held a huge sword with a blade of blue energy. The most wondrous thing about this monster, however, was the fact that it was riding on a pure white, oriental dragon. Matsuda struggled against the wingbeat of the huge creature, but Lady Light seemed to be undisturbed.

"Holy crap that's a big-ass dragon," said Matsuda, amazed.

"That's just his steed. And there's more, since I haven't normal summoned yet. I'll summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600)!" A dark-skinned woman with black hair in twin braids appeared on the field.

"And now I activate Michael's monster effect! I pay a thousand lifepoints (Lady Light: 4000 – 3000) to banish one card on the field. I choose your facedown! Dimensional Radiance!" Michael pointed his blade at Matsuda's facedown, a stream of blue energy melting the card into the different dimension. "Now there's nothing stopping me. Ehren, attack Planetes!" The dark-skinned woman rushed towards Planetes and hit him with a palm thrust, shattering him to pieces (Matsuda: 3000 – 2800).

"And now Michael attacks you directly! Go, Luminous Purge!" Michael pointed his sword at Matsuda, blue energy gathering at the tip. In an instant, it was shot off and exploded on contact with Matsuda, sending him flying away, landing hard on his backside (Matsuda: 2800 – 200).

"Ow…" Matsuda groaned. That had hurt. A lot. He wasn't letting her get away with that.

"I'll end my turn there, and both Michael and Ehren mill three cards." She sent six cards from her deck to her graveyard.

"Alright, my turn!" He looked at his deck. _Come on, don't fail me now…_ "Draw!" He ripped off the top card and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He flipped the card around to look, and smirked. "Look at that, I got it! I summon Cosmic HERO Space Pilot (Lv.3, ATK: 1500)!" A middle-aged woman wearing a red flight suit appeared, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun, her face a mask of determination. "And her effect allows me to special summon a level four HERO monster from my graveyard, so let's all welcome back Planetes!" Planetes reappeared next to Space Pilot, looking none the worse for wear.

"Now, let's go into warp drive! I'm gonna tune my level three tuner monster Space Pilot with the level four Planetes!" Space Pilot faded into three green rings as Planetes became four shining stars. Light erupted as the rings surrounded the stars.

"As the spiral turns, see the light of a billion suns! With your heart a supermassive black hole, show the dazzling brilliance of the stars! Synchro summon! Level seven! Shine, Cosmic HERO Andromeda!" As the synchro light erupted and cleared, what could now be seen was beyond words. It was an ethereal woman, her body seemingly made of the arms of spiral galaxies, tiny pinpricks of light shining through. Her face, although ghostly, was still beautiful, and her hair flowed through the light of a trillion stars (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500).

Lady Light gave a small smirk. "I've been waiting to see something like that."

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting!" Matsuda grinned. "And your defeat starts now! Because Andromeda has an effect that activates on her successful summon: she can destroy one card on the field! And I'll choose Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn!" Andromeda pointed a ghostly hand at Michael. "Neutron Star Collision!" Without any warning, Michael began screaming and shattered into pixels.

"Impressive," said Lady Light, "but when Michael is destroyed, I can select any number of other Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard and return them to my deck! I'll add one Minerva back!" She added the card back to her deck. "And I gain three hundred lifepoints for each I add (Lady Light: 3000 – 3300)!"

"Doesn't matter to me, since I'm activating a quick-play spell card! Radiation Blast! When I destroy a monster of yours with a card effect, this baby hits you with damage equal to half of that monster's attack points!" An invisible blast hit Lady Light, causing her to choke (Lady Light: 3300 – 2000).

"And Andromeda still has her attack! Destroy Ehren, Black Hole Sun!" Andromeda's chest opened up, revealing a huge black hole. A blast of pure darkness was shot from it, drawing Ehren towards it through sheer gravity. The monk fell in and was instantly crushed, at which point Andromeda's chest closed once more (Lady Light: 2000 – 1100). "I end my turn with a facedown!" A reverse card appeared at his feet.

"That was a good move. Draw." She drew her card, and smirked. "A good move, but it's all over now. It's time you witnessed the strongest among the Lightsworn." She picked the card and held it up high.

"The hell?" Matsuda just looked at her quizzically.

"Since there are four Lightsworn monsters with different names in my graveyard, I can summon forth this beast." Silhouettes of Raiden, Michael, Minerva and Lumina appeared. "Wherever evil may lurk, destroy it! Wherever darkness may overtake light, smite it! Rain your heavenly judgment down on all sin! Become the light that purges darkness! Level eight! Shine, king of heavenly beasts, Judgment Dragon!"

From a blinding light flew a majestic dragon with an oriental face, its hulking stature able to dwarf even the largest of buildings. Its scales were grey, but they still shone brilliantly, beyond all comprehension (Lv. 8, ATK: 3000).

_It's alright, I still have my Cosmic Ray trap, I can halve its attack in the damage step and win the duel!_

"I activate my dragon's effect!" Her words broke through Matsuda's thoughts. "By paying a thousand lifepoints (Lady Light: 1100 – 100) I can eradicate every other card on the field! Go, Purging Light!"

"What?!"

Matsuda's answer came in the form of a deafening roar, light shining from the dragon's every orifice. The light increased in intensity until he had to shut his eyes to avoid being blinded, and when it faded, both Andromeda and his trap card had disappeared. He was now wide open.

"Now Judgment Dragon, finish this! Heaven's Judgment!" Judgment Dragon roared once more, but this time light began gathering in its open maw. Matsuda stared in shock as a huge beam of light barrelled straight at him, unable to move as he was overtaken by the burning light. He screamed. He couldn't help it, it was far too intense for him to take. The force of the blast sent him flying backwards, and, as if lady luck was taunting him, over the edge of the building and down the narrow gap between it and the next one (Matsuda: 200 – 0, Winner: Lady Light).

He felt himself falling, but he was in too much pain to register it. If he didn't do anything, he would die, but he simply couldn't understand that concept at that moment. He barely registered the sound of heavy boots sprinting across the rooftop, and a hand gripping his arm. He looked up blearily to see his hooded saviour, the very woman whose attack had sent him flying over the edge. She pulled him up, sending him a couple of feet into the air before he landed with a thud.

"Why," he gasped. "Why save me?"

She looked down at him and sighed. "You see me as the bad guy in this whole situation, but I'm really not. I don't exactly want your blood on my hands, you know."

"Oh, but that other guy's is fine?"

She leaned in close to him, giving a steely glare. Through his blurred vision, he could actually see her face, but he couldn't make anything out. Just three blonde spikes of hair hanging off towards the left. "Like I said, you're a naïve kid who doesn't understand the situation. Now, where do you live?"

He coughed weakly. "Why the hell… would I tell you something like that?"

"Would you rather sleep on the street?"

Seeing no flaws in her logic, he told her, and promptly lost consciousness.

* * *

AN: So that's chapter 1. What did you think, guys? Feedback is always good. Anyway, got some general comments to make. First off, this chapter ran away from me a bit, it wasn't meant to be so long, and I didn't want to split it into two on the first duel, because then I'd have to make the second half of it an entire chapter and I'm not doing that. Yet. Also, this is set in the Arc-V universe, and the plot of Arc-V does happen, just in a different place. Hell, the Arc-V characters might even show up at some point if it works with the plot. Anyway, if anyone reading this follows Angel's Breath, don't worry, I haven't abandoned it, I just had this idea and it kept nagging at me so I decided to run with it. And finally make a Yu-Gi-Oh! story work. If you can catch all the references in this, you earn every brownie point there is to have, because there are quite a few. Some obvious, some not. And in case you're wondering where the title comes from, I ripped it from the second Arc-V opening, Burn by Bullettrain. Anyway, to sign off, here is a long-ass list of all the original cards that appeared in this chapter. Until next time, folks.

Cosmic HERO Motivator  
LIGHT/Warrior/Effect  
Level 4  
ATK: 1500 DEF:1500  
When this card is sent to the graveyard: draw 1 card.

Cosmic HERO Planetes  
DARK/Warrior/Effect  
Level 4  
ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300  
When this card is normal summoned: you can special summon 1 'Cosmic HERO' monster from your hand with a different level to this card.

Cosmic HERO Infernus  
FIRE/Warrior/Effect  
Level 3  
ATK: 1300 DEF: 200  
If this card is special summoned by the effect of a 'Cosmic HERO' monster; you can tribute this card: destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.

Cosmic HERO Space Pilot  
DARK/Warrior/Tuner  
Level 3  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1300  
When this card is normal summoned: you can special summon 1 level 4 HERO monster from your graveyard.

Cosmic HERO Andromeda  
LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 7  
ATK: 2500 DEF:2000  
1 tuner monster + 1 or more non-tuner monsters. When this card is Synchro Summoned: Destroy 1 card on your opponent's side of the field for each non-tuner monster you used to summon this monster. Once per turn, during your main phase: you can tribute one Cosmic HERO monster on the field, other than this card; destroy one card your opponent controls.

Giga-Mech  
Equip Spell  
This card can only be equipped to a 'Cosmic HERO' monster. That monster gains 500 ATK.

Radiation Blast  
Quick-Play Spell  
When you destroy an opponent's monster with a card effect: inflict your opponent damage equal to half that monster's attack.

Satellite Shield  
Normal Trap  
When your oppenent declares a direct attack: target the attacking monster; negate that attack.

Cosmic Ray  
Normal Trap  
During the damage step: target the opponent's monster; that monster's ATK is halved.


	2. An Enemy Appears!

_The blazes were uncontrollable. Screams pierced through the air, those screams begetting more screams, and those even more. Soon, as the flames reached a peak, burning through everything that stood, the cacophony of screams became unbearable. The smell of burning flesh pervaded nostrils as gunshots rang through, muzzle flashes lost in the blinding display of burning. Soon, however, the screaming stopped, and the only sound was that of all that had once stood proud burning away, becoming mere ash right before her eyes._

_There stood a single hooded figure, staring at the devastation she had failed to stop. She grit her teeth as she clenched her fist; there was nothing she could do here anymore. Fortunately, she knew their plan, and it involved no more mindless destruction of her home. No, it was far worse than that. Instead, the homes of countless billions of others, countless billions of lives were to pay the price for one man's megalomania. She had lost too much, and she would do anything to stop herself from losing anything more._

_But to stop that, she would have to follow them wherever they were going, and she would have to fight. This, she didn't mind. She had been fighting them for most of her short life, so what was a few more months spent chasing them? A few months was all she had, in any case, before everything crumbled, so she may as well spend that fighting to have a future beyond those few months. With a couple of taps to the duel disk on her wrist, she locked on to their signal and smirked._

**An Enemy Appears! The Delirious Dueling Experience!**

"Ow…" Matsuda groaned as he sat up in bed, holding his head. He took a moment to try and piece together exactly why he was in pain, before he remembered the rooftop duel he had participated in the previous night, and his small brush with death. He looked at his clock to see it reading eight on the dot, and began to panic, throwing the covers off himself.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late!" He threw on his uniform, a black blazer, white shirt and navy trousers before collapsing to the floor with a grunt, holding his head. He stood up slowly this time, careful to avoid a rush of blood to his head, but inwardly groaned when the door to his room was flung open.

"Matsuda!" The woman who burst in was tall, and curvy, her red hair falling halfway down her back, a fringe parted to the side revealing her large violet eyes. "Wanna explain what the hell happened to you last night?"

Matsuda sighed before smiling meekly. "I would love to, mom, really, I would, but I can't."

A vein threatened to burst from her forehead as she began screaming at her son. "And why is that, huh?! Not got a good excuse? You knocked on the door, then I open it to find you unconscious and beaten to holy hell!"

"I don't remember knocking on the door."

She smacked him upside the back of his head for his remark. "Enough of the smart mouth! Tell me what happened, now."

"You know, I'm gonna be late…"

"Now!"

"Well, I remember dueling, then sort of passing out."

"You were dueling? SERIOUSLY?! I can't even explain how worried I was, you didn't even call me, and you were dueling?"

"Well, I did fall asleep on the beach for a few hours."

She lowered her voice, her face still naught but rage. "Get your ass downstairs, eat your breakfast, then get to school. Now!"

He didn't need anymore prompting, and quickly ran out of the door.

* * *

"You okay down there?"

Matsuda looked up through blurred vision at the person who had spoken to him. A girl, probably his age, slightly above average height with a slim, athletic build. Her curves were visible, but not by much. She had piercing, ice blue eyes and deep crimson hair falling just past her shoulders, with a fringe of three blonde spikes swept so they stuck down past her left eye. Her mouth was twisted into an expression of concern, but Matsuda couldn't tell much apart from that she was frowning. His head was swimming, everything was just blurred lines to him. It pounded with pain unlike anything he'd felt before, like someone had attacked his skull with a mallet.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"You're slumped against a wall in a hallway in Delta High, and your blazer is covered in vomit. You should probably see the nurse."

He looked down at his blazer. He couldn't smell anything, but then again, he couldn't really see properly either. He could see something vaguely brown and disgusting on his blazer, however, and he quickly realised that he had an acidic, coppery taste in his mouth. Just wonderful. Using the wall as a crutch, he slowly rose to his feet, stumbling as he pushed off. He almost fell, but the girl caught him in a firm grip, hefting his arm over her shoulder.

"Try not to throw up on me, okay?"

"No promises," said Matsuda, slurring his words slightly as he stumbled along with her support.

Before long, after what seemed like aimless guesswork, they reached the nurses office. The girl gave a firm knock which was quickly answered by a severe looking woman in her mid-forties, who took one look at Matsuda, who managed a weak smile, before snatching him from the girl and ushering him inside, placing him in a sitting position on a cot.

"What happened?" she asked, turning to the girl when Matsuda just looked at her, confused. She was confused to find that the girl had disappeared, leaving simply empty air in her place. The nurse merely shrugged and began examining Matsuda.

The disappeared girl was walking briskly through the corridors, meandering her way through the school's labyrinth. She had already been late when she found Matsuda, and the detour had only cost her more time. Not that she particularly cared, but this was sure to draw some attention to her, being new and all, and drawing attention to herself would prove a detriment. She continued walking until she found the door marked 3-B and, with no hesitation, shoved the door open and marched inside.

"So in this case, x would equal… ah, and you must be the transfer student. I do hope you realise that you are twenty minutes late?" The teacher was a short, balding man in his fifties, his sandy hair wispy and going grey.

"I was helping someone to the nurse," she said, "I didn't know where that was."

"Oh? And who might that have been?"

"Some guy called Yukaro."

A head covered in blue hair snapped up from a half-slumber at this, worry etched on its eyes. "Matsuda?" said Daitaro. "Is he okay?!"

"If he was," she said, "would I have had to take him to the nurse?"

The teacher, Mr. Hashida, sighed. "Well, that explains his absence, at least. Very well, I suppose it can't be helped. You may as well come to the front and introduce yourself."

She took her place in front of the class and gave a very shallow bow. Then, with a completely straight face, she said, "hello, I'm Kimiko Kimura. Don't shorten my name, and don't talk to me unless you absolutely have to. I'm not interested in being anyone's friend."

The entire class sat in stunned silence. No-one had ever been that blunt in an introduction, or that antisocial. They all quickly came to the conclusion that she was just weird, and since the aura coming from her was rather intimidating, all resolved to follow her instructions. All except one, that is.

"Alright," said Hashida, "you can take a seat at the back over there next to Mr. Ikeda."

Kimiko sighed as she took her seat. This Ikeda guy was obviously a friend of Yukaro's, and she really didn't want to deal with annoying questions.

"What's wrong with Matsuda?" Daitaro said in an urgent, hushed tone.

She favoured him with an icy stare that sent shivers down his spine. After an agonising moment, she finally replied. "He looked concussed."

"What did the nurse say?"

"I don't know. I left."

"What?! You didn't even check if he was okay?"

Rather than respond, Kimiko just pointedly ignored him, causing an exasperated sigh as he realised he wasn't going to have any luck.

* * *

"You're definitely concussed."

Oh joy, Matsuda thought. It did explain the delirium, pounding headache and general lack of lucidity, but it wasn't something he was happy about. He could only remember one time this could have happened, which was at the end of his duel the previous night. With a shudder, he recalled flying off the rooftop, and the sickening thud with which he had landed on the back of his head as Lady Light had saved his life. Well, he thought, sure looks like she did a great job of it.

"I'm calling your mother to come pick you up, you can wait here until then."

Yay. Just how pissed would his mother be that he had not only gotten home in a state due to dueling, but it had given him a concussion. It was weird, because usually action duels weren't so rough.

Then he realised.

He almost smacked himself in the forehead. That hadn't been an action duel, it was just a regular one. So how the hell had her attacks been real? He wasn't aware of any duel disk that could produce hard light, either, so the woman's ability to form it was a mystery to him. He just couldn't understand it in the haze of his delirium, how could he have gone flying off the side of a building and gotten concussed when he had only ever been attacked by holograms? With a heavy sigh and a churning of his stomach, he decided to leave it until he could actually muster a coherent thought and sat and waited.

He wasn't waiting long.

"Matsuda! Oh my god! Is he okay, tell me he's okay! My baby, I'm sorry!" After her rather undignified entrance, Matsuda's mother grabbed him and smothered him with a hug.

"He'll be fine," the nurse said, "just keep him off school for three weeks and make sure he rests and gets plenty of water. If he isn't getting better, take him to a doctor, same if he hits his head on anything, even just a light bump."

With that, Matsuda was led outside on wobbly legs to a car, where he sank into the back seat as his mother began driving.

"Honey, do you remember how you got hurt last night? I know you said you remember dueling, but action arenas don't stay open that late."

This was where things got complicated. He couldn't just say that he had been in a regular duel with real damage, because that was a ridiculous notion. Hard light couldn't be incorporated into duel disks, and supernatural powers that made damage real were completely implausible. His mother wouldn't believe such a thing, and he wasn't sure he did either. Hell, maybe he'd just hit his head and imagined the entire thing. That was probably it, actually. He'd made his way home and collapsed on the doorstep, woken up thinking he'd been in a duel that was more than likely nothing more than a hallucination. His imagination had shown him crazier things before, after all. And so, he told her what he now saw to be the truth.

"No."

The next few days were a haze for Matsuda. He remembered little, passing in and out of fitful sleep, often seeing the stream of light from Judgment Dragon's mouth shooting towards him in his dreams. He vaguely remembered a visit from Daitaro and Kaneko, worry on their faces and questions of what he had done. He didn't remember much of his answers to these questions, nor did it bother him that much. Three days after he first set down his head, he woke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, panting from his latest round of being blasted by a huge dragon in his dreamscape. However, he was relieved as he woke, because he finally had some clarity of thought. He still felt a little confused, mainly about why it was so dark and why his clock was telling him it was one in the morning.

One thing was certain though. He was absolutely sick of lying in bed. Of course, had he been in right mind, he would have realised that leaving was a stupid idea that should not be done, but if he had been in his right mind he would not have been in his predicament in the first place. He threw on the first clothes he saw, and absentmindedly strapped his duel disk to his wrist. Old habits die hard, after all. He left his bedroom and, without breaking stride, walked downstairs and straight out of the front door, forgetting almost instantly that he had left it slightly ajar.

* * *

"You think he has it?"

"Absolutely. I looked up his deck, it's perfectly suited for the use of that card. He's the best lead we have so far."

"So he is our enemy, correct?"

In a dark room sat a tall, heavily built man, his features obscured by the inky shadows created by the dim candlelight. His voice was deep, and authoritative, for it was he who had previously spoken from his seat behind a heavy mahogany desk, addressing a man who could be assumed to be his subordinate.

"I don't know. He may not know of its power," said the subordinate. He was six feet tall, his raven hair cropped short, small spikes jutting backwards. His choice of clothing was enigmatic, wearing navy blue shorts with a deep violet jacket covering a forest green t-shirt. Also, he had a handgun in a holster at his left hip, and a duel disk on his right wrist.

"We can afford to take no chances, Yamato. Retrieve it at once and use what means you must."

"Of course, sir. What about Lady Light?"

"She has done her job revealing this lead to us, leave her be for now. She will surface eventually. Now, get to it."

"Yes, sir," said Yamato, taking his leave. As soon as his back was turned, he allowed himself a small smirk. It seemed as if events were finally being set in motion.

* * *

Matsuda's wandering took him to the seafront. He couldn't remember how he got there nor exactly what he was doing, but as he stared out at the calmly lapping waves he felt at ease. The deep blue of Nishihama's sandy beach never failed to calm him, no matter the situation. He took a seat, back to the sea defence wall, on the soft sand. His breathing slowed, and he felt his eyes closing. He didn't care too much about the light breeze, or the cooling temperature, or the fact that he was out in the open for anyone to see and take advantage of. All he cared about in this moment was the absolute calm of the moment. With the tide on its way out, he wasn't in danger of being swept away any time soon, so he took solace in the moment and allowed the fog in his mind to get thicker.

Before sleep could overtake him, however, he was rudely snapped back to reality by something hitting his shoulder and forcing it back into the unforgiving concrete.

He opened his eyes to stare down the barrel of a handgun.

"Rise and shine, kid," said the gun's wielder. Matsuda couldn't make much out apart from a dark jacket that could have been violet. He was stunned rendered speechless. "Now, you've got something I want."

"I… I don't-"

"I thought not. Let me look through your deck."

"What? No!" Matsuda was completely alert to that statement. His deck was precious to him; he had poured his heart into it, and he wasn't about to just hand it over. Of course, the thick fog in his mind was preventing him from realising the severity of his situation.

"I don't think you're in any position to be refusing me."

"I- I don't even know who you are."

"My name is Yamato. There, now you do. Hand it over."

"Just because I know your name doesn't mean I trust you."

"There is a gun in your face," said Yamato, his voice aggravated.

"I- I know, but…" he simply trailed off with a blank expression, as if he couldn't quite grasp the words he was trying to use.

Yamato growled. "Alright, this is going nowhere. How about we duel?"

"I can't, I-"

"Look, I can tell there's something wrong with you, but you're pissing me off and I want what I came for. If I don't get it, I will shoot you and take it anyway. Duel or die, your choice."

Even with his cognitions impaired, Matsuda could tell that there was only one real choice. He stood up and activated his duel disk, the blade shooting out. "Alright then, let's duel."

"Finally! If I win this, I'm going through your deck and taking what I came for." Yamato activated his own duel disk, holstering his weapon.

"Why should I agree to that?"

In response, Yamato gave the gun at his hip a deliberate pat.

"What if I win?"

"I won't put a bullet in your brain."

"DUEL!"

Yamato: 4000  
Matsuda: 4000

"You can go first," said Yamato.

"Alright," said Matsuda, examining his hand. He tried to put together a combo in his mind, but he couldn't understand how he'd pull it off. He could see cards in his hand that worked together, but it didn't register with him. He looked over his hand once more before making his decision.

"I normal summon Cosmic HERO Planetes (Lv. 4, ATK: 1400)! I end my turn with that." The stone man erupted from the ground in a shower of rocks as the turn passed to Yamato. Matsuda realised all too late that he had misplayed.

"Life on the line and that's the best you can do? Alright, my turn. Draw!" He drew his card and gave his hand a quick scan. "First, I'll activate two continuous spell cards! Constellar Star Chart and Constellar Tempest!" Two seals of the Constellar appeared in the sky above the duelists' field, one golden and one a blinding white. "Thanks to Star Chart, I get to draw when I Xyz summon a Constellar monster! And Tempest will allow me to attach a Constellar monster in my graveyard to a Constellar Xyz monster as an Overlay Unit during my Standby Phase. Now, since you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon Constellar Siat (Lv.1, DEF: 1600)!" A small white fairy appeared, with a head shaped like a rugby ball, golden rings attached to small protrusions on either side with the seal of the Constellar in place of a face.

"Now," said Yamato, "I'll normal summon Constellar Pollux (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)!" A white warrior wielding two short swords burst forth in a flash of light, a white cape with red lining flapping in the air behind him. "And thanks to his effect, I can normal summon an extra Constellar this turn. Say hello to Constellar Algiedi (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600)!" A sleek, helmeted figure came forth carrying a staff, its cape blue. "And with Algiedi, I can special summon a level four Constellar from my hand! Constellar Kaus (Lv. 4, ATK: 1800)!" What appeared to be an armoured centaur wielding a golden bow appeared on the field next to the three already present Constellar monsters. "Now Kaus' effect. He can raise his own and Algiedi's levels by one! Now they're both level five!"

Yamato held his hand up to the air and began to chant. "I overlay my level five Constellars Algiedi and Kaus! With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network! Knight of Stars, complete the circuit of righteousness and descend now to defend all that is just! Xyz Summon! Rank five! Come forth, Constellar Pleiades (Rank 5, ATK: 2500)!" Both Algiedi and Kaus morphed into energy, surging into an illuminated, starry galaxy. With an explosion of light came a majestic warrior, his white armour accentuated by gold, the seal of the Constellar displayed proudly on his chest, the golden halberd in his left hand glittering. "Thanks to Star Chart, I draw a card." He drew a card before he continued.

"I'll also activate Siat's effect. He can copy the level of a Constellar I control, so I choose Pollux! I overlay my level four Constellar Pollux and Siat! With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network! Surging light, rush forth to slay the darkness with your shining sword! Xyz Summon, rank four! Appear now, Constellar Praesepe (Rank 4, ATK: 2400)!" Both monsters were absorbed into the Overlay Network as a white and gold mechanical man with a crimson blade burst forth.

"Constellar Pleiades attacks Cosmic HERO Planetes! Go!" Pleiades rushed forward and, with a swing of its halberd, cleaved Planetes in twain. The force of the slash caused a gust to rush towards Matsuda, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying backwards to land on his backside (Matsuda: 4000 – 2900).

"What the hell?" said Matsuda, "that shouldn't have hurt."

Yamato chuckled. "You've already experienced this, you idiot. Or have you forgotten your duel on that rooftop?"

Matsuda's eyes widened in shock. He had chalked that up to a hallucination, just his imagination playing tricks on him. He'd clearly been wrong.

"It's hard light, genius. Like your action duels, but in a duel disk. Simple, right?"

Matsuda was still shocked. "B-but how? Hard light doesn't exist outside of action arenas, and they're too huge to carry around."

"Or so you think. Anyway, it's about time to end this. Praesepe, attack!" Praesepe rushed towards the downed Matsuda, who desperately searched his hand. He couldn't think straight, and he was about to get a hefty smack. He'd been told to rest and getting kicked about by a hard light hologram didn't qualify. His eyes, even with his vision blurred, caught sight of a card, and he remembered an effect that gave him some hope.

"I activate the effect of Cosmic HERO Black Hole! When you declare a direct attack, I can special summon it!" A small void of an inky darkness appeared on the field, devoid of everything (Lv. 2, ATK: 700).

Yamato smirked. "I thank you sincerely for summoning it in attack mode for me! During the damage step, I'll use Praesepe's effect. By removing one Overlay Unit, I can target a battling Constellar monster and increase its attack points by a thousand! Go, Praesepe (ATK: 2400 – 3400)! Destroy his Black Hole!" Praesepe continued its rush, slashing through Black Hole with ease before confronting Matsuda and stabbing forward at him, sending him rolling over backwards several times before coming to a stop on his back (Matsuda: 2900 – 200).

"I'll end my turn there, and during my end phase, I activate the effect of Constellar Tempest! Since I control two Constellar Xyz monsters, I can remove every Overlay Unit from them and halve your life points!" Matsuda's eyes widened as several burning meteors fell towards him, accelerating to great speeds. He tried his hardest to scramble out of the way, but was engulfed in an explosion that sent sand flying everywhere. When the sand and smoke cleared, Matsuda was struggling to his feet (Matsuda: 200 – 100).

"Ready to give up yet?" said Yamato, his face impassive.

Matsuda growled. "I never give up! My turn, dr-"

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Both Matsuda and Yamato turned towards the origin of the feminine voice above them, seeing a crimson-haired girl leaning on the sea wall. Before either could express surprise, she leaped over it and fell the fifteen feet to the beach below, landing perfectly on her feet and striding towards Matsuda.

"Last I checked," said Kimiko, "people with concussions shouldn't be dueling." She spared a glance at Yamato. "Especially against people with advanced duel disks that actually hurt you."

Matsuda looked utterly dumbfounded. "But, how do you-"

He slipped out of consciousness as Kimiko gave him a firm punch to the solar plexus, gently easing him to the floor as she took off his duel disk and strapped it to her own wrist. "I'm dueling you in his place, Yamato." Her eyes narrowed. "And I'm taking back that deck you stole from me. You even stole my chants."

Yamato smirked. "Oh, you were watching? But as I remember, you gave this deck to me."

"We can debate semantics after I beat you, but you should know that this is pointless. He's sick, and he doesn't have it anyway. You're not exactly being fair on the guy."

"I don't give a crap about being fair, I give a crap about doing my job. And how would you know if he has it or not?"

It was Kimiko's turn to smirk. "It doesn't make a difference. Now, I believe it's my turn, yes?" She took out Matsuda's extra deck and looked over each card thoroughly before drawing and examining her hand closely. "I summon Cosmic HERO Space Walker (Lv. 2, ATK: 1100)." A man appeared, his features obscured by a spacesuit, his rasping breaths from an oxygen tank ringing clear. She looked over her hand again before taking a card and inserting it into Matsuda's duel disk. "I'll now activate the Matter Conversion spell card! By halving my life points, I can special summon a Cosmic HERO monster from my grave (Kimiko: 100 – 50). Be reborn, Cosmic HERO Black Hole!" The black hole reformed on the field next to Space Walker. "Now I'll tune my level two Space Walker with the level two Black Hole!" Space Walker turned into two green rings surrounding Black hole, which morphed into two stars, a flash of light revealing that the two had merged into a man wearing steel plate armour his helmet revealing only his eyes. There was a hole in his chest holding a miniature sun, and he carried a pure white broadsword.

"I Synchro Summon Cosmic HERO Luyten (Lv. 4, DEF: 1500)! I'll now set one card and end my turn."

"That was rather a useless move, you know what this deck can do, after all," said Yamato.

Kimiko smirked once more. "If you think so, you'll be surprised. I don't make useless moves, or have you forgotten?"

Yamato scowled at her. "Oh, I remember very well. But it's my turn now. Draw!" He pointed at Pleiades with a grin. "During the Standby Phase, Constellar Tempest activates! I attach Siat to Pleiades from my graveyard as an Overlay Unit! And now I'll reconstruct the overlay network with Constellar Praesepe! Chaos Xyz evolution! Rise, Constellar Ptolemy M7 (Rank 6, ATK: 2700)!" A huge mechanical dragon exploded from the reconstructed network, roaring at the unfazed Kimiko. "Now, I'll remove Ptolemy's Overlay Unit to bounce Luyten back to the extra deck!"

"Nice try," said Kimiko, "but I chain Luyten's own effect to Ptolemy M7! By tributing him, I take no battle damage this turn!" Luyten exploded in a shower of light which formed into a shield in front of Kimiko.

Yamato growled. "In that case, I'll set one card and end my turn."

"Then I draw." She drew her card, saw the name and gave a small smile before whipping it into a monster zone. "I summon Cosmic HERO Space Pilot (Lv. 3, ATK: 1500)!" The woman in her pilot's attire jumped from the holographic card on the field. "And her effect on summon brings back a level four HERO from my graveyard, so I'll bring back Planetes." The rock-man burst from the ground for the second time that duel.

"Hold it right there," said Yamato. "I activate Pleiades' effect! By removing his remaining Overlay Unit, I bounce Planetes to your hand!" Pleiades consumed its last Overlay Unit and pointed its halberd at Planetes.

"It's a good thing I set this, then. Breakthrough Skill!" Kimiko's reverse card opened, and a surge of energy bound Pleiades' halberd in place, stopping it from activating. "Now I'm tuning my level three Space Pilot with my level four Planetes!" Light erupted as Space Pilot's synchro rings surrounded the stars of Planetes. "As the spiral turns, see the light of a billion suns! Synchro Summon, level seven! Cosmic HERO Andromeda!" The ghostly, ethereal woman emerged from the light, her arms spread and her gaze both beautiful and terrifying. "Now for her effect, allowing me to destroy your Ptolemy M7!" Andromeda simply pointed at Ptolemy, eliciting an agonised roar as the monster shattered into a million pixels.

"Well done," said Yamato, "now you have a monster with the same attack points as mine that I can just bounce next turn."

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Kimiko. "Still so dismissive of your opponents. I activate the quick-play spell Radiation Blast! Since I destroyed one of your monsters with a card effect, you take half of that monster's attack points as damage!" Yamato frowned as his life points decreased (Yamato: 4000 – 2650).

"And I'm not finished. I activate Burning Sun Lance! I target one Cosmic HERO monster I control, and by reducing its attack points by five hundred, when it destroys a monster by battle this turn, your monster's attack points are dealt to you as damage." Andromeda was enveloped by a glowing orange aura as it became slightly smaller (ATK: 2500 – 2000).

"I'm failing to see how this helps you," said Yamato, his expression flat.

"Cosmic HERO Andromeda, attack Constellar Pleiades! Black Hole Sun!" Andromeda's chest opened to reveal a black hole, the gravity of which was too much for Pleiades to resist, but rather than do so it instead ran with the pull, brandishing its halberd menacingly.

"Are you suicidal, Kimi?"

Her eyes narrowed as she snarled. "You aren't allowed to call me that. Now, during the damage step I activate the effect of Cosmic HERO Space Walker in my graveyard! By banishing him, I can target one HERO monster I control and increase its attack points by Space Walker's until the end of the damage step! Empower Andromeda and end this!" A ghostly version of Space Walker flew into Andromeda, causing her to enlarge somewhat (ATK: 2000 – 3100).

"Aw crap." Pleiades swung its halberd, but the gravity was too strong and the weapon was crushed into nothing as it was sucked into the singularity in the centre of Andromeda's chest. Pleiades was next, screaming as it tried desperately to escape, but to no avail as it too was crushed. Light exploded as Andromeda's chest closed, buffeting Yamato (Yamato: 2650 – 0).

Kimiko advanced on Yamato, eyes glinting with malicious intent. "I'll take my deck back now."

Yamato, quick as flash, drew his gun and trained it on her. "You sure you want to be making demands?"

"You might want to turn the safety off before you shoot me."

Sighing, his arm dropped. "Looks like you called my bluff."

"It isn't even loaded, is it?"

"Geez, how could you tell?"

She glared straight into his eyes, cutting an intimidating form in the moonlight. "Hand it over, or I'll take it."

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

Her glare intensified and she frowned. "Old friend? I hate your guts, Yamato."

"Tch, fine." He put the deck back in its holder and tossed it to Kimiko, who plucked it from the air. "I don't need it anymore. But we'll meet again, and you won't be as lucky."

She said nothing, and simply stared as he walked away before turning to the unconscious Matsuda and sighing. "Idiot."

* * *

Three weeks into the term and it was the first day Matsuda was able to actually attend. He'd thought better of leaving his house again after that night, but he had no idea how he'd gotten back. One minute he was faced with that girl, the next he woke up in bed, sore but otherwise none the worse for wear. He was no longer confused at everything, now, and he could see and think just as well as he could before he'd ended up bedridden. Truthfully, he was happy, even if it meant he had to go through school, and catch up on three weeks of missed work. He was finally able to get out and finally able to push himself in whatever he wanted to do, especially dueling.

He'd thought a lot about dueling recently. Specifically, just how his last two opponents had had duel disks that produced hard light holograms. It baffled him. No-one had been able to condense that technology beyond the huge projectors that were used in action arenas, so how was it suddenly in duel disks? On top of that, that Yamato guy he had duelled had been looking for something, probably a card, and been so intent that he'd pointed a gun at him just to get it, and Matsuda had no doubt the guy had been ready to shoot him.

He picked absentmindedly at his food as he thought. He had a lot of questions, and a sum total of no answers. He hated not knowing. His internal questioning was short-lived, however, as a voice rang through the air.

"Yo, Matsuda! You okay? You look like you're somewhere else." He snapped out of his stupor and looked up to see Daitaro taking a seat across from him.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Good. Thought you were relapsing on us."

Before he could respond, Matsuda felt a pair of slender arms wrap loosely around his neck before being quickly removed. When he saw that they belonged to Kaneko, he was surprised. She wasn't one prone to displays of affection, no matter how small.

"I'm glad you're okay." Her mouth turned up into a small smile, which Matsuda quickly mirrored.

"Heh, thanks. I appreciate the concern, but it isn't necessary. I'm fine."

She merely nodded before sitting down. As Matsuda readied to eat his own lunch, he saw a figure in the corner of his eye. Without a word, he sprung up and rushed towards them.

"Hey!" he said, walking briskly to catch up. The figure turned, and her ice blue gaze pierced through Matsuda. "Mind telling me what the hell happened on the beach?"

"I knocked you out, beat the guy and took you home."

"How did you know where I live?"

"It's registered in your duel disk."

"How the hell did you get in?"

"The door was open."

"Alright then, you have any idea who that guy was and what he was willing to threaten to shoot me for?"

"Nope." She turned to walk away, but stopped halfway as Matsuda spoke again.

"Thank you, uh… I don't know your name."

"Kimiko Kimura. I'm in your class, idiot." She scowled at him. "You done yet?"

"Hey, I'm only trying to thank you for helping me those times!" His voice took on an affronted tint as his eyes flashed with irritation.

"Don't worry about it. Now leave me alone." She ended the exchange by walking away whilst Matsuda just stood, dumbstruck.

* * *

"And you're sure, Yamato?"

"Yeah. That girl knows where it is, and it isn't with the guy."

"And you failed to defeat her, if I understand you correctly? Not only that, but you gave away your deck?"

"I didn't like it very much, I prefer the deck you prepared for me. Constellars aren't really my style."

"Very well. However, when using your full might, I expect you to be victorious."

"Of course, sir."

"You may leave now."

Yamato turned away and smirked. Now things were getting interesting.

* * *

AN: Concussions are damn scary. Like, when you forget how you got from your bed to the kitchen, it's a terrifying experience. I tried to convey that here, as well as some of the dangers of hard light, which to be fair, Arc-V has already done (Episode 34, anyone?). Anyway, make of everything that happened in this one what you will. Obviously Kimiko is more than she appears and someone is trying to stop someone else from doing something that would do something harmful to many other someones. Anyway, if you have a question, comment, criticism or gripe, do me a favour and review, don't just sit on it. I'll reply to you all as soon as I can. Peace out, hombres.

Cosmic HERO Black Hole  
DARK/Warrior/Effect  
Level 2  
ATK: 700 DEF: 1000  
When your opponent declares a direct attack: you can special summon this card (from your hand).

Cosmic HERO Space Walker  
LIGHT/Warrior/Tuner  
Level 2  
ATK: 1100 DEF: 400  
During the damage step, when a 'HERO' monster you control attacks or is attacked: you can banish this card from your graveyard; increase that monster's ATK by this monster's ATK.

Cosmic HERO Luyten  
LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 4  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500  
1 tuner monster + 1 or more non-tuner monsters.  
During either player's turn: you can tribute this card; you take no battle damage this turn.

Matter Conversion  
Normal Spell  
Halve your life points; special summon one 'Cosmic HERO' monster from your graveyard, ignoring the summoning conditions.

Burning Sun Lance  
Normal Spell  
Target one 'Cosmic HERO' monster you control and reduce its ATK by 500; until the end phase, when that monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict to your opponent damage equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.


	3. What the Past Reveals

Darkness. The sky of the midnight hour was naught but a sea of inky black, the moon reduced to a thin sliver of silver trying desperately to shine through the vast emptiness that was the night sky. The stars were like tiny pinpricks, the only thing that allowed any measure of light shine down to the earth from the infinite cosmos, a universe precluding, perhaps, what was to come. No colour, no light, not even the midnight blue that one would expect the sky at night to be; just black. This black blanketed the world, everyone's eyes drawn to the void, to the black, rather than the stars and planets perhaps visible through a telescope.

However, below this sky, below the black, the night was illuminated, if dimly. The lights of Nishihama burned no matter how dark the night, acting as a beacon for lost travellers, weary workers and even those who would see those lights extinguished. With the size of the country, never mind the world, Nishihama's light was almost non-existent, but the scope of this illumination was not what mattered, rather that it existed. For without it, millions would be trapped in the dark, scared, maybe even forgotten, left to the ravages of time. Such, of course, would some desire, an empty sky and a world devoid of light, left to wither and die. Some, of course, would oppose this. With such opposition, arose conflict, and it was within the endgame of a minor skirmish that the city's lights shone their brightest, not through the city's electric lights, but instead through the radiant light that came of holy judgment, purging the sins of the world.

"Judgment Dragon, end this!" The speaker's cloak flapped violently in the wind caused by her monster's movement. The alley in which she duelled was long, but narrow. Large enough, perhaps, to accommodate several humans walking side by side, but not enough to house the hulking dragon that beat its massive wings above her, illuminating the area around it for several hundred feet. It was a plain alley, damp and dark, lined with garbage and old, useless electronics. It was dirty, and rats would scurry around, away from the light, and away from the huge monsters that would be sure to annihilate them.

A man screamed as a gargantuan blast of light seared his skin and sent him flying several feet backwards, landing on his back as all the wind was knocked out of him. The dark skin of his face was lightly burned and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, whilst his dark grey suit was torn to shreds, blood seeping from a large wound in his shoulder. It would be clear to an observer, then, that this duel had been far from normal.

The man barely had time to groan before a knee was jammed into his solar plexus and he felt the cold, hard metal of a handgun in the centre of his forehead. The figure behind the weapon had her hood drawn up all the way, but was decidedly female, and in their proximity, he could see her face. Her most distinctive feature, he thought, was in the spikes of hair that hung off as a fringe, a much lighter colour than the rest of her hair, but colours he could not determine in the gloom. Her eyes were stony and emotionless, as if they were saying, _I don't care. I'll kill you before you can blink and sleep like a baby afterwards._

"Tell me where your base is," said Lady Light, her index finger having already squeezed the slack out of the trigger. The gun was a Glock 19, black and boxy with a short barrel, but easy for a person with smaller hands to handle. It had no safety, so she hadn't had to waste time pushing on a selector. She gave a very slight, sadistic smirk as he snarled beneath her, clearly in pain. She jammed her knee in harder and waited for his answer.

"Fuck you," he said, spitting.

Rather than shock or anger, she simply stared at him, amused. Her previous smile did not return, and neither did the stone eyes. Rather, she let an easy, humour-filled smile play across her features, as if she was about to laugh at a joke. She took a moment, the man still writhing and snarling beneath her, before composing herself as if she was about to respond.

But she didn't, and his head exploded.

**What the Past Reveals**

Even as a man was left for rodents to feast on in a dank alley, Matsuda Yukaro was fast asleep. The past week had been tough, he had needed to catch up on three weeks of missed schoolwork, and it had taken its toll. He was thoroughly exhausted, every hour of every day, and had fallen asleep as soon as he had returned home, and would likely stay that way until dawn at the earliest. Luckily for him, the intensive work he had put in had been rewarded, and he was all caught up, if a little short on sleep. Luckily again, the next day was Friday, after which he would be free for a weekend of doing whatever the hell he wanted. Which was probably sleeping.

The hours ticked on, and Matsuda's dreamless sleep did the same. When the clock hit seven, an alarm began to blare and he woke, instantly alert and aware, refreshed after such a long while spent completely unconscious. He sat up, realising that not only had he slept on his bed, not in it, he had also fallen under completely clothed, shoes and all. Which he guessed saved a little time getting ready, but he wasn't really happy about it. He'd been more worn out than he'd thought.

He walked downstairs, into the kitchen, where he found his mother stood, cooking. The kitchen doubled as a dining room, with a linoleum breakfast bar separating the actual kitchen from what could, conceivably, be called a dining room. There were three stools set along the length of the bar, each black and padded. Matsuda plopped himself down in one and looked about himself.

It was a plain room, white wallpaper, hardwood flooring. The dining room portion was what one would walk in to from the hallway, and was big enough for a four person dining table, nothing special, old, scarred oak, cleaned and polished to a shine. The chairs were wicker, each the same, four legs, a seat, a back. If one were to ignore the dining table and turn left upon entry, they would walk to a gap between the wall and the bar, which led into the kitchen. It was small, but functional, just large enough for two people to uncomfortably pass each other without brushing shoulders. There was a range set next to the gap, with six gas burners on top. Next to that was cupboards, and a corner could then be turned to a sink, below which and to the right was a washing machine, directly across from a dryer. Next to the washing machine, squeezed in between it and a wall, was a large fridge-freezer, American style, with a water nozzle and ice dispenser on the door. It was stood next to a back door, leading out into a small but well-kept garden.

Matsuda's mother turned, and smiled upon seeing her son sat before her. "My god, you're alive!"

"Actually, I'm a ghost," he said, his lips playing upwards.

"Smartass. You want breakfast?"

"Yeah, please."

There was no more conversation as Matsuda ate pancakes and bacon, drinking tea. He finished quickly, and before long, was out of the door, well on his way to school. For once, he would be comfortably on time, so walked at a leisurely pace, through the plaza, which was blazing with the morning sun, and not yet full as it would be during the day, instead populated only by a smattering of people, either early birds out for a walk or people with somewhere to go, perhaps work or, like him, school.

He decided, having plenty of time, to stop and take a deep breath, looking around at the city's early morning life. The sparse population all, like him, walked with the leisurely gait of a person with somewhere to go but plenty of time to get there, and a couple even turned to him, smiled and nodded before moving on. A politeness that was perhaps only observed between early birds, but he reciprocated all the same, because he was Japanese, and he prided himself on being polite.

He caught in his peripheral vision a situation that he thought he may have to intervene in, as it was a situation that didn't sit very well with him. Perhaps it wasn't his business, but he could see well enough what was happening, and could make reasonably educated guesses. There was a girl, around five feet and six inches, lithe but athletic with crimson hair, perhaps a little blonde peeking out, being harassed by two large boys, larger than him, one standing at six foot four and one at six-one, at his best guess, and both heavily built with an equal balance of muscle and fat. All three were wearing Delta High uniforms, and so Matsuda decided that yes, he would intervene.

As he came closer, he realised he recognised all three. The two boys were classmates of his since junior high, aggressive men used to getting what they wanted, and if they didn't, they'd usually respond with force. Bullies, essentially. The smaller one was called Hiro Mori, and the larger one Brock Johnson. Brock was American, although his Japanese was perfect, and he still hadn't completely lost the accent. The girl was Kimiko, the transfer student Matsuda had run into. She sat next to him as a couple of classes, and had been assigned as his lab partner in chemistry. She held her ground against the two bigger boys, unflinching and unmoving even as they advanced. Hiro took a swing, and Matsuda winced as he imagined its impact.

There was no impact, however, as Kimiko caught his wrist in mid-flight, twisting it around painfully and forcing Hiro to a knee, his body tilting in the direction she was twisting. Brock's face took an enraged expression, and he took a long stride towards her, shifting his weight to his back foot and drawing back his fist. He exploded off his back foot and drove his fist forward, but by that point, Matsuda had positioned himself between Brock and and Kimiko, so the blow collided with his cheek instead. His head snapped back, rolling with the punch, and it was a solid blow, but he stayed on his feet. A lone tear ran down his cheek as he stared at Brock, a lump already beginning to form on his cheekbone.

"Two on one is a little unfair, don't you think?" he said. Kimiko's eyes shifted, falling on him, before moving to focus on Brock. Anger flashed in her eyes as she let go of Hiro, who stayed on one knee, cradling his wrist.

"Piss off, Yukaro, you little shit. This isn't your business," replied Brock, moving forward, extending a hand to brush Matsuda aside.

"Looks like I just made it my business."

Brock drew his fist back again, suddenly snapping his elbow straight and aiming straight for Matsuda. He had no time to react, but he didn't have to, as he felt himself being shoved aside, and heard Brock's fist hit flesh. He turned to see the fist held tightly in Kimiko's left hand and, quick as lightning, she snapped her own right fist forward straight into Brock's nose, exploding forward off her back foot and pushing all of her weight into the blow, breaking his nose. She let go of his now limp fist and they both watched as he staggered back, one hand on his nose, one hand outstretched to drag Hiro away.

"This ain't over, you bastards!" he said before striding away, his gait uncertain and pained.

"Heh, thanks," said Matsuda, "if you hadn't done that I'd probably be the one with the broken nose."

"The solution to that is to not get in the way," said Kimiko before walking away in the direction of the school. He fell into step beside her, and they walked silently for a few minutes. The silence was neither awkward nor hostile, but it was not necessarily comfortable. Matsuda liked Kimiko. She was abrasive, and rude, and very closed-off, but she was honest and he saw nothing wrong with her. She didn't talk much, but she talked to him more than others, mostly because it would be inconvenient for their schoolwork not to, and he found her to be agreeable enough. Besides, she had helped him out on two separate occasions when he had been concussed, and that counted for something in his book.

"What was that about?" said Matsuda.

"They're a couple of perverts who don't know the meaning of the word no."

"Huh? What did they say?"

"The bigger one tried talking to me, I told him not to. Then he told me that a girl with tits like mine couldn't possibly be so anti-social."

Matsuda suppressed a groan. That was certainly the kind of thing Brock would say, and he guessed that he deserved a broken nose at the least. "Then he started harassing you, right?"

"He was already harassing me. That was about where you came in, though. And it was unnecessary."

"Hey, you saved my ass, thought I might return the favour."

"Well, if you plan on trying that again, make sure you'll actually be useful first, beyond getting hit in the face."

"Didn't hurt."

"You have a lump on your cheek the size of a golf ball."

"Maybe it hurt a little."

She smiled, it was miniscule, and unnoticeable, but it was there. The walk continued in silence until they reached Delta High, ten minutes early. Matsuda turned at that point to see Kimiko already in the distance, walking away.

Abrasive, and rude.

* * *

"Did you hear? Some dude got offed last night," said Daitaro.

"Really?" said Matsuda, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. "They know who did it?"

"No, apparently there's no trace. It's weird, too, he got shot in the head and the bullet was still in there. I mean, they've got fancy science stuff to figure out where it came from, right?"

"Fancy science stuff," Kaneko said dryly, "you really have a gift with words."

"Hey, shut up!" Matsuda chuckled at Daitaro's outburst. The trio was sat at their usual four person table in the school's cafeteria, the broken remnants of a meal left around them. The table was white, and smelled of disinfectant. The chairs were straight-backed and plastic, uncomfortable but bearable.

Kaneko ignored her brother and carried on. "They couldn't trace the bullet, or the gun it came from. Apparently it's a dead end, and they couldn't find fingerprints or anything. Whoever did it was careful."

"Yeah, you're always careful," said Daitaro, a teasing smirk on his face. It quickly dropped at an icy glare from Kaneko, however.

"Whatever," he said, "Matsuda, meet us at the plaza at one tomorrow!"

"Why? What's the plan?"

"I got a new improved deck, so we'll head to the arena and find some poor schmuck who has an ass for me to kick!"

"In other words," said Kaneko, "you can laugh at him when he loses."

"Yeah, sounds good. I'm in."

"Hey!" said Daitaro, but nobody was listening. Instead of lingering, he decided to take the conversation in a different direction, the teasing smirk returning to his face. "So, Matsuda, I saw you walking in today."

"And?"

"And you were with that transfer student."

"Right. Your point?"

"My point is," he now wore a wide grin, "why would you keep such a thing secret from your best friend!"

Matsuda groaned, and Kaneko just looked at Daitaro. "Perhaps because you'd start with things like this, and announce it loudly to the entire city?" she said.

"Not you too!" said Matsuda, head now in his hands.

"So tell us, Casanova, what's happening!"

"Absolutely nothing, you dumbass."

"I don't believe you! So spill it!"

"There's nothing to spill. Except Coke on your head, if you don't shut up."

* * *

Matsuda had arrived early, partly out of boredom and partly so he could grab lunch before Daitaro dragged him and Kaneko away at a hundred miles an hour. He was currently munching on a salmon skin roll, the last of his food, settling in on a bench for his half hour wait. The sun was high, and the plaza busy, but not uncomfortably so. Early on Saturday afternoon, a lot of people were at home, eating lunch. The big crowds would come out around two, as they did every week. From that point on until around five, it would be a struggle to move through the sea of bodies, so the plan would undoubtedly be to stay the hell away. Then the plan would go out of the window and they would be sweating in a scrum.

Matsuda didn't mind much, though. He liked spending time with his friends, and he could probably find a duel or two to enjoy. It certainly beat sitting at home playing through Borderlands 2 for the eighteenth time. He tilted his head back, staring at the sky, littered with fluffy cirrus clouds, moving slowly, like glaciers in the stratosphere. He blinked when a huge shadow fell over him, and he felt resentment and a seething rage emanating from whoever was casting the shadow before he even saw them. He looked, and found Brock and Hiro standing over him, cracking knuckles. Brock's nose was clearly nowhere near healed, it was disjointed, and clearly hadn't been set right, with cuts still on the skin and a thin bandage wrapped around it to keep it in place. Even so, Matsuda could see the kink in it.

"Well, well, look who it is. All on your own, this time, no Ikeda or Tits to save you," said Brock, sneering at Matsuda.

Matsuda sighed, glaring at Brock. "Really? Tits? That's what you call her? You're an asshole, Brock, now please stop blocking the sun."

Brock chuckled. "See, that's not how it's gonna work. What's about to happen is you're gonna stand up, and then we're gonna kick your ass, and then we're gonna leave. And if anyone comes to save you, we'll kick their ass, too."

"Rest assured, my ass will remain un-kicked."

"No, no, no," said Brock, in English, "without those friends of yours, you're useless. And if you won't stand up and take your beating like a man, then we'll make you stand up. So stand up."

Matsuda looked back at Brock, and realised that he was right. In a duel, he could do something, but in a straight-up fight he couldn't do anything. In those situations, he'd always had to rely on Daitaro to bail him out.

"_Hey!" said Matsuda. "Leave her alone!" Matsuda was thirteen, five-three and skinny as a reed. He was defending a girl, shorter than him but still tall for her age and gender, wearing cat-ears on her blue hair. She was slumped against a wall, and two boys stood over her, seemingly ready to pounce. They were both incredibly large, the larger one, Brock Johnson, the American transfer student, standing just under six feet, and heavily built. _

"_What's it got to do with you, shrimp? Go away," said Brock, shooing Matsuda with his hand._

"_I'm not gonna let you pick on people like that!"_

"_Yeah," said Brock, "what're you gonna do about it?"_

"_Let's duel!" said Matsuda, eyes blazing._

_Brock paused for a beat before he and his friend, Hiro, started laughing uncontrollably. "That's a good one! You think you'd have a shot against me? Then let's go!"_

_Ten minutes later, Brock's life points had hit zero, and he was seething. He stepped over to Matsuda, eyes glistening with tears of rage, and drew back his fist. The furthest point backwards in its motion was always the best time to strike, and that was when Brock was struck. A straight right in the chin, a left hook to the gut, and a jab to the nose to finish it off. Brock crumbled, and the large boy in front of Matsuda turned and smiled. He had blue hair, the same as the girl's, cropped short._

"_I guess you're the guy who helped my little sister out just now, right? Thanks a lot man, I'm Daitaro. Pleased to meet ya!"_

"_Um, I'm Matsuda. And you're welcome, thanks for dealing with him."_

"_Ha, no problem! He's a nasty asshole anyway, so I think of it as a public service."_

Matsuda stood, and said, "why don't we duel instead? Two-on-one. You guys win, you can kick my ass. I win, you get lost."

"Ha!" said Hiro. "I say we take it, Brock. Then we get to humiliate him in a duel before we beat the crap out of him. Like a two-for-one deal."

Brock's features twisted into a cruel grin. "I agree, what a nice opportunity you've given us. Alright, let's duel, right here, right now!"

* * *

"_So I guess we're all in the same class, huh!" A fourteen year old Daitaro slung his arms over the shoulders of his sister and his best friend, grinning broadly._

_Matsuda smiled. "Yep, and we're gonna take the place by storm!"_

_Kaneko said nothing._

"_Hey, sis, what's up?" said Daitaro._

"_Nothing," she said, unconvincingly._

_Matsuda frowned and said, "You sure?"_

"_Yes, I'm fine. Just, there will be a lot of people there, right?"_

"_You can handle them!" said Daitaro, beaming. "You're Kaneko goddamn Ikeda! You're awesome, and we all know it, so put your worries out of your mind!"_

"_Besides," said Matsuda, "You've got us there too."_

_Kaneko smiled at him, and nodded._

_However, their optimistic prediction was altogether too optimistic, as on their first day of high school, they found that someone else they all knew was there with them._

"_Please leave me alone."_

"_Hey, what's the matter, Ikeda?" said Brock. "You're growing into a fine woman, you know that?"_

_Kaneko tried and failed to suppress a shudder. Brock was now huge, and his imposing figure cast a gargantuan shadow over her. She was alone, and she knew it, and that made her vulnerable, and Brock knew it._

_Brock slung an arm over her shoulder and gave a lecherous grin. "You're coming home with me tonight, and your little boyfriend and your brother can just go ahead and piss off."_

"_That's not happening."_

"_Aw, come on, don't be shy. After all, we all know that you'd rather be with me than that piss-ant Yukaro."_

"_Not if you were the last man on earth!" She freed herself from his grip, and shrunk into the corner._

_He then began advancing on her, grin still on his face._

"_You heard her, Brock, now get lost." Matsuda now stood between Brock and Kaneko, arms spread out wide. Brock drew back his fist, and Matsuda braced for the blow he knew was coming._

* * *

"Duel!" The three participants stood in a wide triangle, each ten feet from the other. Which was no problem, since the plaza was large. There was a large fountain in the centre, which Matsuda had his back to, stood close but not close enough for any water to splash onto him. It was white painted stone, as were many of the structures in the plaza, most of which had flowers planted inside them. A couple even housed small trees.

Matsuda: 4000  
Brock: 4000  
Hiro: 4000

"Alright," said Brock, "I'm going first! I summon Aquarmament Pistol Fish (Lv. 3, ATK: 1200)!" What looked like a haddock with a head shaped like a pistol appeared in the air, flapping its tail. "And when he's summoned, you take four hundred points of damage! Warning Shot!" A burst of energy was fired from the fish's head and it hit Matsuda square in the chest (Matsuda: 4000 – 3600). "That's the end of my turn, so Hiro, you take it from here!"

"Gladly," said Hiro. He drew, adding the card to his hand before considering his options. "I activate Dark World Dealings. We all draw a card, then discard one." They all did so, Brock and Hiro both considering for a moment, whilst Matsuda discarded the card he had drawn. "The card I discarded was Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, so now I get to draw another card." He drew, and paused a moment before continuing. "I summon Fabled Raven (Lv.4, ATK: 1500). I activate its effect, which allows me to discard a Fiend-type monster to increase its ATK by five hundred!" He selected a card from his hand and put it in his graveyard slot. "I discarded Snoww, Unlight of Dark World, so I can add The Gates of Dark World to my hand!" A card stuck out of his deck, and he took it before opening his field spell slot and placing it inside.

A huge pair of demonic gates with an aura of pure darkness appeared behind Hiro, and the gathering crowd let out a collective gasp. "The effect of Gates," said Hiro, "means I can banish a Fiend-type from my graveyard," he took out Snoww and pocketed it, "discard a card," he did, "and draw one," he drew a card. "Along with every Fiend-type's ATK increasing by three hundred! And now, Fabled Raven (ATK: 1500 – 2000 – 2300) attacks directly!" The demonic bird shot forward and struck Matsuda with a beak shrouded in black (Matsuda: 3600 – 1300). "Turn end."

"Finally," said Matsuda. "Time for me to go! And I summon Cosmic HERO Planetes (Lv. 4, ATK: 1400)! With his effect, I special summon Cosmic HERO Space Pilot (Lv.3, ATK: 1500). Now, I'll tune my two monsters together! As the spiral turns, see the light of a billion suns! With your heart a supermassive black hole, show the dazzling brilliance of the stars! Synchro summon, level seven! Shine, Cosmic HERO Andromeda (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500)!" The ethereal woman made of cosmic entities burst from a cocoon of light, and stared down Matsuda's opponents. "Her effect now, so I can destroy Hiro's Gates of Dark World!" The gates shattered into pixels (Fabled Raven ATK: 1800 – 1500). "And now she'll attack Raven!" Fabled Raven was drawn into a black hole in Andromeda's chest, and couldn't escape the pull, so was drawn in and crushed in the singularity (Hiro: 4000 – 3000).

"I'll set three cards," said Matsuda, "and end my turn."

"My go, then!" said Brock. "And I'll summon Aquarmament Flashbang Angler (Lv. 4, ATK: 1100)!" An angler fish with a boxy grenade on its lure burst from randomly generated waves next to Pistol Fish. "Then I activate my spell card, Star Changer. Targeting Pistol Fish, I raise its level by one to a level four monster!" Three stars appeared above Pistol Fish, quickly joined by a fourth. "Now, I overlay my level four Aquarmament Pistol Fish and Flashbang Angler! Traversing the deep, destined to blow every creature in your path to pieces! Xyz summon, rank four! Aim true, Aquarmament Lock-on Leviathan (Rank 4, ATK: 2400)!" A huge creature worthy of the name leviathan appeared, black tentacles flailing out, each ending in a huge barrel with a scope and laser sight mounted on top.

"Now I activate my Leviathan's effect," said Brock. "I can target a monster you control and halve its attack and defence points!" Two of the laser sights locked on to Andromeda, firing torrents of water from the barrels, drenching Andromeda and causing her to halve in size (Cosmic HERO Andromeda ATK: 2500 – 1250). "Now Lock-on Leviathan, attack Andromeda! Lock-on Burst Fire!" All of the tentacles converged to point at Andromeda, each of the laser sights converging to a point on her centre mass. Each fired a burst of water bullets, piercing through her chest. In a silent scream, she keeled over and died (Matsuda: 1300 – 150).

"And when a monster affected by the effect of my Lock-on Leviathan is destroyed, that monster's original ATK is dealt to you as damage!"

Water bullets fired at Matsuda, who closed his eyes and inclined his head slightly. The bullets struck all around him in a plume of smoke, presumably dropping his life points to zero.

"All right!" said Hiro. "Time for an ass-kicking!"

"Yeah," said Matsuda as the smoke cleared, "for you."

Shock appeared on the faces of both Brock and Hiro as they saw Matsuda standing undamaged, the effect having no effect on him at all. Instead, a holographic trap card was raised up, and a shield made of a shining silver alloy floated in front of him.

"I activated my Adamantine Barrier trap, which negates damage I'd take from an effect, at the cost of the top card of my deck." He sent the top card of his deck to his graveyard.

Brock growled. "I set one, then I'll pass it to Hiro. Finish him off!"

"That was the plan! My turn, draw!" Hiro drew his card, and smirked. "I'll summon another Snoww, Unlight of Dark World. But she won't stay on the field for long, because I can return her to my hand to summon my ace from the grave! Meet Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700)!" A huge black demonic dragon burst forth from the ground, taking flight and giving Matsuda a predatory glare. "And he'll attack directly! Go!" Grapha dove at Matsuda, and if he was worried, he wasn't showing it. In fact, he smirked.

"I activate Satellite Shield! Since your monster is attacking directly, I can negate that attack!" A satellite popped into existence in front of Matsuda, a translucent blue energy field stopping Grapha and forcing it back with a growl.

"Fine," said Hiro, snarling. "I'll end my turn."

Matsuda drew, and smiled. "Alright, I can work with this. In fact, I've won. First, Mystical Space Typhoon destroys Brock's facedown card!" The titular typhoon ripped its way through the card. "And now, because my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I can special summon Cosmic HERO Solar Wind (Lv.5, ATK: 2100)!" A wind began to blow, getting progressively stronger before it formed into a humanoid shape, mostly translucent and full of dust, with a faint solar glow about it.

"Big deal," said Brock. "That thing's got nothing on either of our monsters, and you have no more cards in your hand."

"Did you forget about my facedown?" said Matsuda. "I activate it in response to Solar Wind's summoning: Cosmic Background Radiation! When a monster is special summoned, I can special summon a Cosmic HERO monster from my deck with the same level as that monster, so I'll choose my Cosmic HERO Alien (Lv. 5, ATK: 2300)!" When the trap card resolved, an alien in what looked like a flight suit appeared. It was grey, with large black bug-like eyes protruding from the top of its head. It was tall, and thin, and its head had a queer shape, with only nostrils, no nose, and no visible ears.

"My alien friend has no effect right now, but that doesn't matter, since I have two level five monsters out!"

Brock's eyes widened, and Hiro suppressed a gasp. _He's gonna Xyz summon?_

"I overlay my level five Cosmic HERO Solar Wind and Alien to create the overlay network!" The two monsters morphed into balls of light, before shooting off into the galaxy network that had appeared in the sky. "Great moon, satellite of the largest. Closest ally of the gas giant, suspend your orbit and come to my aid! Xyz summon, rank five! Appear now, Cosmic HERO Callisto!" From the overlay network came a huge, almost spherical chunk of rock. That rock morphed into a large, tough-looking man, still vaguely spherical in his proportions, and made entirely of the rock of a moon (Rank 5, ATK: 2700).

"Now, Callisto, attack Aquarmament Lock-on Leviathan!" The huge moon-man slammed a fist into the leviathan, shattering it into pieces (Brock: 4000 – 3700). "And that's not all. You see, Callisto has an effect that means when he destroys a monster by battle, that monster's attack points are inflicted to you as damage!" The punch was this time aimed at Brock, and it hit his centre mass dead-on (Brock: 3700 – 1300).

"But I'm not done yet, because also when Callisto destroys a monster by battle, I can remove an overlay unit to have him attack again!" The monster absorbed one of his overlay units, turning to face Grapha.

"Our monsters have the same ATK! You'll wipe them both out!"

Matsuda ignored him, and pointed at Grapha. "Callisto, attack Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" Callisto charged straight at Grapha, who also charged with equal intensity. As they were about to collide, Matsuda said, "remember that card you made me discard with Dealings? Well, it's about to come back to bite you in the ass! During the damage step, I banish Cosmic HERO Space Walker to activate its effect! I can target Callisto, and have him gain Space Walker's ATK until the end phase." A ghostly apparition of the monster appeared and was absorbed by Callisto, who bulked up and gained a faint glow (Cosmic HERO Callisto ATK: 2700 – 3800). Callisto ploughed right through Grapha, shattering the monster and going through to Hiro (Hiro: 3000 – 0).

"And his effect isn't limited to once a turn, either, so I'll use his second overlay unit!" Callisto absorbed the second and final overlay unit orbiting it, exploding at Brock. He took a step back before the punch connected, wiping him out (Brock: 1300 – 0, winner: Matsuda).

Brock collected himself, and after his and Matsuda's duel disks deactivated, leaving empty space in place of the holograms, he advanced on Matsuda, snarling, Hiro joining him. Both were large and intimidating, Brock's disjointed nose adding to the effect, and Matsuda found himself backing away slightly.

"Alright, you little piss-ant, time to do what I should have done a long-" Brock was cut off by a fist jamming itself hard in his solar plexus, the one who had struck moving on before he fell to the ground clutching his gut, launching an elbow into the bridge of Hiro's nose, dropping him instantly. Kimiko turned to Matsuda, exasperation evident on her features.

"Is it possible for you to do anything," she said, "without needing me to save your ass?"

"Sure," said Matsuda, "plenty of things. I can use the toilet, eat, go for a walk, don't need you to save my ass."

She favoured him with a small smile before shaking her head. "You're a first-class idiot."

"And proud!"

"The hell?!" came a loud voice, as Daitaro pushed through the crowd, Kaneko following in his wake. "Matsuda, did you beat these guys up?"

"No," he said, "Kimi did."

Daitaro whistled. "Damn, good job." He turned and grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. "I approve."

She turned and grunted. "Whatever."

"Anyway," he said, "we should probably get out of here before the cops come."

"Agreed," said Matsuda, and he grabbed Kimiko as the trio began walking briskly away, despite her indignant protests.

Once they were out of sight, he was punched in the ribs before Kimiko walked off, saying, "idiot."

"I just thought," said Matsuda.

"Don't hurt yourself," said Daitaro.

"Ha-ha, coming from the guy who failed English in the most spectacular way possible and barely passed maths and Japanese. Anyway, we're pretty distinctive. Who has hair like us?"

"Dude, we're in Japan. Everyone and their dog has hair like us."

"Alright, fair point."

* * *

AN: I enjoyed writing that one. The words just flowed onto the page. A nice little bit of character development, and Matsuda actually got to show off and be badass, as opposed to the previous two chapters, where he basically did nothing. Anyway, I have some recommendations. Firstly, I heavily, heavily recommend Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death by ThatLoneAvenger, because it's a fantastic story so far and very well-written, by a guy who can write very well, predictably. Another is one I have to put in because I used his cards, and that's Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-VOC by OPFan37. The Aquarmament archetype and all of its cards featured belong to him. The story is good, and it's entertained me every step of the way, even if it suffers from a bit of early instalment weirdness. Anyway, that's it for this one, I'm feeling like writing this a lot now, so next one should be soon. As always, if you have a question, comment, praise or criticism, or spot an error and you have a correction, please tell me in a review. Even to just let me know you're reading. I'll respond ASAP. Until next time, folks.

EDIT: Cleaned up and added missing cards to the list at the bottom of the page.

Aquarmament Pistol Fish  
WATER/Fish/Effect  
Level 3  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 1000  
When this card is successfully summoned: inflict 400 points of damage to your opponent's lifepoints.

Aquarmament Flashbang Angler  
WATER/Fish/Effect  
Level 4  
ATK: 1100 DEF: 1600  
Once per turn, when an opponent's monster declares an attack: target that monster; negate that attack.

Aquarmament Lock-on Leviathan  
WATER/Sea-Serpent/Xyz/Effect  
Rank 4  
ATK: 2400 DEF: 1500  
2 Level 4 monsters  
Once per turn: You can target one monster your opponent controls; halve that monster's ATK and DEF, and if you do, when that monster is destroyed by battle or a card effect; inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's original ATK.

Cosmic HERO Solar Wind  
WIND/Warrior/Effect  
Level 5  
ATK: 2100 DEF: 1500  
This card is treated as also being LIGHT-attribute. If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can special summon this card (from your hand).

Cosmic HERO Alien  
DARK/Warrior/Gemini  
Level 5  
ATK: 2300 DEF: 2000  
This card is treated as being a normal monster on the field and in the graveyard. During your main phase, you can normal summon this card again, and have it gain the following effect:  
\- When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and deals damage to your opponent; you can special summon 1 "Cosmic HERO" monster from your hand, deck or graveyard.

Cosmic HERO Callisto  
DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect  
Rank 5  
ATK: 2700 DEF: 2100  
When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard: inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's ATK, and if you do, you can remove 1 Xyz material from this card; this card can attack again.

Adamantine Barrier  
Normal Trap  
When you would take damage from your opponent's card effect; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Cosmic Background Radiation  
Counter Trap  
When a monster is special summoned to the field: target one Cosmic HERO monster in your hand or deck with the same level as the summoned monster; special summon that monster.


	4. Kaneko's Peril!

The air was still, but for the heavy breathing of two people. It was night, and in an alley were two figures, one hunched over the other's prone form. They were silhouetted, dimly visible by the light of the moon, but the alley had no lights of its own, and so visibility was poor. However, this didn't affect the top figure, despite the added handicap of a hood. This figure was staring from beneath her hood straight down into the eyes of her captive, eyes wild and desperate, while her own were stony, and emotionless. She was of average height, and had a figure that was lithe yet athletic, though this fact was muted by the looseness of her cloak. She kneeled with a knee each side of the man's waist, a Glock handgun jammed into his solar plexus. He was short, and squat, clearly built for endurance. He had a broken duel disk on his wrist, cards scattered about him. The desperation in his eyes intensified as he wildly thrashed around, searching for some way, any way, to escape her grip. He stopped when she pushed the gun into him harder. Tears filled his eyes, but as he opened his mouth to finally spoke, another, smoother voice cut through the night air.

"You might want to leave now."

Lady Light looked up to see Yamato stood in the mouth of the alley, smirking. "I'd hate to have to mess up your pretty face because my associates got here before you ran away."

She growled. "Why shouldn't I just shoot you, Yamato?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you." He began advancing, pulling a handgun from a holster on his hip. "Because in less than a minute, you're gonna be surrounded. So get the hell out of here, because my boss wants your head."

"Why would you be interested in helping me, you bastard?"

He chuckled. "Just makes things more fun, don't you think? Trust your old friend once in a while. After all, I haven't told anyone who you are underneath that hood, right?"

She glared at him, and growled, before standing and turning to walk away. "I don't know what game you're playing, but I'm going to find out, and them I'm going to kill you." She ran, jumping up a fire escape and quickly leaving his sight.

Yamato chuckled once more. "You shouldn't complain. After all, the game benefits you right now. And how boring it would be if things culminated without you there."

"Hey! Yamato!" A deep, booming voice interrupted his monologue, and he turned to see a hulking man, around thirty, very tall and very wide, with straight brown hair falling to the small of his back. His eyes were green, and cunning, and he wore a white shirt with grey trousers. "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Myself. Who else?" said Yamato.

"I guess she got away, huh."

"Seems that way. She ran when I got here. Sorry, Enzo, looks like we ended up on a wild goose chase again." He smirked, unbeknownst to Enzo.

"Um, sir…" The downed man spoke up meekly, finally ascending to his feet. He looked between Enzo and Yamato, opening his mouth to continue speaking.

That was as far as he got before Yamato shot him, a double tap in the chest, quick and efficient without even turning his head. "He was getting round to talking after she cornered him," said Yamato. "Dangerous to keep that kind of guy around, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, you've got a point. What should we do with the body?"

"Just leave it where it is. It's not like anyone can trace it back to us."

"That's fair enough. Do you know which way the girl went? If I can catch up to her, maybe I can finally have a thrilling duel. All the opponents I've faced here so far were trash. Not worth the price of a bullet to even kill them."

"I can tell you the general direction, but she went over the roofs, so who knows where she could have gotten off to?"

"Dammit! Looks like I have to stick with the worms for now. You find anyone worth duelling recently?"

"'Fraid not. There was that one kid, but he needed his girlfriend to jump in for him. I think he was sick or something."

"And this girl, was she strong?"

"Well, she beat me, even if I was using that Constellar deck I took from the idiots I used to run around with. That's gotta be worth something."

Enzo grinned. A wide grin showing off his pearly white teeth. "I see. Who is this girl?"

"Not a damn clue, but I managed to find out the kid's name."

"What is it?"

"What are you planning, Enzo?"

"Come on, it doesn't take a genius."

"Alright, the kid is called Yukaro. Don't kill him, or the girl."

"Why does it matter? They'll probably be dead soon anyway."

Yamato began to walk away, raising a hand in a nonchalant wave. "Because I said it does."

**Kaneko's Peril! The Terror of the Qliphorts!**

Lady Light hopped from a roof, and she ran. Maybe Yamato had been lying, but she wasn't ready to take the chance of being outnumbered in a gunfight involving a man just as proficient with small arms as she was. She had to put distance between her and them, to avoid any kind of confrontation tonight. It was not yet midnight, but the streets were empty anyway, being that it was still late and those particularly streets were all residential, and most sane people not working nights were already at home. A gust of wind threatened to blow down her hood, and she clung to it desperately, as if it were her life. There was a reason she concealed her identity, after all. She came to an alleyway and ducked inside. The only thing she could do now was go home, remove the cloak and start again the next day. She had been so close, too.

From a corner fifty feet away, Matsuda Yukaro watched Lady Light turn into the alley, hugging the wall in an attempt at stealth. He doubted she'd noticed him, and whatever she was doing, he was interested. That woman had basically tortured a guy for information and shown no remorse, then saved his life and even been nice enough to take him home. Plus, she had a duel disk capable of producing hard light, and he wasn't letting that one go any time soon. He had been n his way home and seen her entirely by chance, and now he was in full stealth mode. He would be the first to admit that it wasn't a very effective stealth mode, but it seemed to be working thus far.

He took a tentative step forward, increasing his confidence with every step, although still trying for stealth. It wasn't long, however, before a figure emerged from the alleyway. Matsuda had to suppress a gasp. It was Kimiko. The dissonance in time between Lady light's entrance and Kimiko's exit meant they could have just brushed past each other, or not encountered each other at all, especially since Lady Light had been running.

Or they could have been talking.

With this in mind, he froze like a deer in headlights, waiting to be seen. Luck was on his side, however, as she simply strolled a couple of hundred yards before turning into a building and disappearing from view. He let out a breath he hadn't know he'd been holding, and rushed forward to the alleyway.

It was empty.

Of course, he had been stood there for long enough for someone to conceivably get out, but he knew the street on the other side was long and straight, so it was an opportunity. He sprinted the forty feet to the other end, and stopped, looking around frantically for a cloaked figure.

He found none.

He stepped back into the alley, walking now, and scratching his head. What the hell was going on? Was Kimiko, someone he considered his friend, connected to the cloaked weirdo who had nearly killed him? Whatever the case actually was, he just didn't know.

He hated not knowing.

Meanwhile, Lady Light watched him walk past her position and narrowed her eyes.

* * *

It was early, and a dewy mist clung to the floor. A pleasant sea breeze rolled across the landscape, chilling the already cool autumn morning by a couple of degrees, but not enough to cause discomfort. Matsuda wasn't paying any attention to that, instead sprinting past the plaza with no regard for his surroundings, almost bowling a couple of people over with hurried apologies in his haste. Once again, he would be late. Well, not anymore, he thought as he checked the time, now slowing to a walk as he realised his sprint had been beneficial. He still walked briskly, not pausing to catch his breath, until he caught sight of a figure walking ahead of him. A girl, for sure, walking neither quickly nor slowly and wearing a Delta High uniform, the same as him. What made her distinctive was the fact that she had crimson hair.

Kimiko.

Normally, Matsuda would have kept up his brisk walk and fallen into step beside her, the two of them finishing their walk in silence, with perhaps the occasional word being exchanged. However, suspicion held Matsuda back, and he fell in and matched her pace twenty yards behind, making sure to keep an eye on her. This probably qualified as stalking, but he didn't care. He wanted to know what was going on.

The walk continued for a couple of minutes, nothing of particular note happening apart from the passing of distance and time. However, this wasn't to last, as Kimiko stopped dead in the middle of the street, Matsuda stopping as well. She craned her neck and turned her head back, her eyes falling directly on the frozen Matsuda.

_Crap_, he thought.

Rather than just stand there, he resumed walking whilst Kimiko remained still, glaring holes in him as he approached. He chuckled nervously as he came alongside her, rubbing sweat from the back of his head.

"You were following me," she said.

"I was just walking to school, same as you." He tried to sound innocent, but it was painfully obvious that he was trying too hard.

"Really? Then why did you stop when I saw you?"

"Thought my shoelace was untied?"

"Really?" She didn't sound convinced. "What the hell are you doing?"

He sighed. "Alright. You ever met any cloaked weirdo calling herself Lady Light?"

She answered almost instantly. "Nope, never heard of her. What's that got to do with you following me?"

"I'm getting to it. Sure you've not seen any cloaked weirdoes recently?"

She growled. "No."

"Not last night?"

"No."

"Because I was on my way home last night and saw her run into an alley and not long after, you walked out. You must have run into her, and you're lying to me. No-one answers as quickly as you did unless they have something to hide."

Anger flashed across her features and she bunched her hand in the front of Matsuda's shirt, slamming him into the wall behind him. She stood with her face close to his, so close that he could feel her warm breath glide across his skin.

"Stay the hell out of it."

"Who is she? More to the point, who are you?"

She gripped tighter, and he felt himself tense up. Despite her smaller stature, she was doing a fine job of intimidating him. Of course, he knew what she was capable of. "She's someone dangerous, so stay the hell out of it. Curiosity killed the cat, and it might kill you if you're not careful."

"I know she's dangerous, we're already acquainted. I'm just trying to look out for you."

She growled in his face, a sound that would have made him squeak if his throat wasn't so dry. "I don't need you to look out for me."

"Yeah? Well you're my friend, so of course I'm gonna-"

Her grip slackened, and she gave a miniscule chuckle. "No I'm not. I'm not your friend, and I'm dangerous too, like she is, so you should stay the hell away from me as well. Be clever about it."

"Well, as you seem so intent on reminding me, I'm an idiot, and a persistent idiot, and I don't abandon my friends. Obviously you've got some trouble, and I'm gonna find out what it is!"

She simply walked away and said, "whatever."

* * *

Matsuda's first class of the day had been chemistry, and he found that Kimiko had requested a new lab partner, so he guessed that she had been dead serious. However, he had been partnered with Kaneko instead, so it wasn't all bad. All his attempts at talking to Kimiko throughout the day met with no success, and he found himself scratching his head in confusion. Something was definitely going on, and he was still none the wiser as to what it was, or even its nature. Still, he was no kind of detective, and couldn't possible hope to unravel a mystery so soon after he had discovered it. He sat at lunch staring absentmindedly into space, food untouched, even ignoring Daitaro waving his hand in front of his face.

"Hey! Matsuda! You in there?" This broke Matsuda out of his stupor, and he just gazed at Daitaro. "Anyway, as I was saying, that transfer chick is acting all cold with you all of a sudden, huh?"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

Daitaro pointed at Kaneko who simply shrugged and said, "he asked."

"That doesn't mean you have to tell him!"

"You never said that."

"So, dude," Daitaro had a sympathetic look on his face, "bad breakup?"

"I will kill you where you sit."

"Wow, that bad, huh?"

"For the love of god, she is just my friend! That's what I thought, anyway."

Daitaro laughed. "Nah, that girl doesn't do friends. Said so the first day she got here."

"I'm not convinced."

"How come?"

"Remember that dream I told you guys I had when I was concussed? With Lady Light and the hard light without an action arena and nearly dying?"

"Yeah," said Daitaro, Kaneko merely nodding.

"It wasn't a dream."

There was a beat, and then Daitaro started guffawing, clutching his stomach and wiping tears from his eyes. Kaneko began giggling, but stopped when she saw Matsuda's expression, and said, "go on."

"Alright, so I told you about the cloaked weirdo, Lady Light. Daitaro, shut the hell up!"

Daitaro managed to fade his laughter out and said, "sorry, dude, but I can't believe that crap! No-one's put hard light into duel disks yet. Also, Lady Light is a really dumb name."

"I know, but just listen. I saw her last night. She was running, and she ran into an alley. Kimiko came out of it."

"So?"

"I asked Kimi about it earlier, and she pretty much admitted that she has a connection with her. And she told me that she and Lady Light are both dangerous and that I should stay the hell away and stay the hell out of it. That means that something's going on."

"Alright," said Daitaro, "say I believe you. How do you propose we figure this out?"

"I believe you," said Kaneko. "You wouldn't make something like this up."

"Maybe it was a really lucid dream?" said Daitaro.

"You're really not understanding the sequence of events here, man. As for a proposal, no idea. I kinda hoped one of you could come up with an idea."

"So something is rotten in the state of Denmark," said Daitaro, "and you want our help?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Hold on," said Kaneko, pointing an accusing glare at her brother, "since when do you know Hamlet?"

He shrugged. "I like Shakespeare. So sue me."

"How do you read it?" asked Matsuda, "your English sucks."

"Translations. Anyway, I don't completely believe your wild-ass story, but I'll go along with it for now. In fact, I have an idea." He grinned, and Matsuda groaned.

* * *

"Why did I let you rope me into this?" said Matsuda in a whisper. The three of them were stood on a street corner, huddled together behind a conveniently placed bin.

"Because you know I'm a genius! It might have been a task, but I got us here eventually, and we've found our quarry!" Daitaro gave a grinning thumbs-up, eliciting a sigh from his two companions.

"We'd have been here even quicker if you actually had any sense of direction," muttered Kaneko.

"Hey, as your older brother, I demand respect!"

"Stop being such a buffoon and I might consider it."

Daitaro slumped down to his knees and began letting out a stream of tears. "Disrespected by my own little sister! Just what is the world coming to!"

Kaneko sighed. "I was born fifteen minutes after you."

"Dude, shut up!" said Matsuda. "You want her to see us?"

Daitaro stopped crying and rose back to the huddle. "You were just against this, why the change of heart?"

"I'm still against it, I just don't want to get killed."

They looked over at their quarry to see it looking around, puzzled. They backed away, out of sight around the corner. "Crap!" said Matsuda, "she heard you! Nice going, dumbass. And nice plan!"

Daitaro peeked around the corner and quickly retreated back. "She's coming."

"Crap! Do we run?"

"Nowhere to run, we're screwed."

Kaneko shook her head and sighed. "Follow me." She walked out from the corner, much to the chagrin of Daitaro and Matsuda, who were forced to follow her.

They came upon their quarry, who was walking towards them, venom in her eyes. Kaneko strode forward unerringly until she was only a few feet away, whereupon she stopped and gave a shallow bow.

"You're Kimura, right? From school? What a pleasant coincidence."

The only reply was a, "che," as Kimiko brushed past them and away, Matsuda sighing in relief.

"I'm never coming to you for an idea again."

"Hey, come on, it was a great idea! We should start a detective agency: Ikeda, Ikeda &amp; Yukaro! The great crime solving trio!"

"Are you drunk?"

Meanwhile, on the same street, a huge man with long brown hair heard the commotion, and gazed inquisitively over to the blue haired teen who had just uttered those words. _Yukaro_, he thought. _It seems I've found the child Yamato spoke of, and there is a girl with him._ He grinned. _How lucky I am._ He strode over to where Daitaro was arguing with Matsuda, and stopped, letting his imposing presence cut into their debate.

All three looked up at him, seeing a man bigger than any they'd ever seen before. Matsuda and Daitaro gulped whilst Kaneko shied away slightly. "Are you Yukaro?" he said, his voice booming through their eardrums.

"Uh, yeah," said Matsuda, confused. "Why, who's asking?"

Enzo ignored him and instead looked over to Kaneko, who stepped back. "And you must be his friend, correct? I am Enzo, what is your name?"

"Uh… K-Kaneko Ikeda, sir."

Enzo grinned. "Excellent. Well, my dear, I would like to challenge you to a duel."

Kaneko said, "um, a duel?"

Daitaro interjected by stepping in front of Kaneko and pointing at Enzo. "Hey, if it's a duel you want, big man, look no further than the great Daitaro Ikeda!"

Enzo growled and grabbed Daitaro by the throat, lifting him into the air. Daitaro choked, and Matsuda and Kaneko gave horrified gasps. "I have no time to waste with trash like you. I duel the girl." He squeezed, and Daitaro let out a choked gasp. Enzo smirked. "Well, look at you, gasping for air. Such is the fate of the weak." He squeezed again and Daitaro scratched at his wrist, which was like a tree trunk, to no avail.

"Get your hands off my brother!" Kaneko stood, her breath coming in panting gasps, rage evident in her features. "I'll duel you, so put him down!"

Enzo threw Daitaro off to the side and chuckled. "Well, she has fire after all. Very well, let us duel." He took a look around and smiled. "Dusk, no-one to interrupt but a helpless audience. What a lovely setting."

Kaneko growled and activated her duel disk. "No-one lays their hands on my family."

"Well," said Enzo, "here I present you an opportunity to do something about it."

"Duel!" they both shouted.

Kaneko: 4000  
Enzo: 4000

"I will allow you the first move," said Enzo.

Kaneko looked over her hand briefly before pulling out a card. "I'll start with Spellbook Star Hall, which gains a spell counter for every Spellbook I activate, and each spell counter gives my spellcasters an extra one hundred ATK." An aisle flanked by walls with strangely shaped lights appeared, a luminous orb glowing a light blue in the sky above it. "Then, I summon Spellbook Magician of Prophecy (Lv.2, ATK: 500)!" From the card emerged a young boy wearing blue robes and carrying a book of spells. "With his effect I can add a 'Spellbook' card to my hand, and I'll choose my Spellbook of Secrets!" She showed him the card and added it to her hand. "With this, add a Spellbook to my hand and I choose Spellbook of the Master! I activate it, allowing me to copy the effect of a Spellbook in my grave, and Secrets is the only one in there, so I copy it to add The Grand Spellbook Tower, which I then activate!" The field was overtaken by the tower, which was sleek and silver and surrounded by magical wards. The Star Hall now had three orbs lit up (SMoP ATK: 500-800). "I set a card and end my turn."

Enzo grinned. "Impressive. But allow me to show you my own strength. Draw." He drew his card and smiled. "I use the monsters Qliphort Disk (Pendulum Scale: 1) and Qliphort Scout (Pendulum Scale: 9) to set the Pendulum scale!" A disk appeared in a pillar of light on the left of his field, multi-coloured with four spikes protruding at even intervals and some kind of body beneath it. In a pillar of light to the right appeared a white machine with what looked like a golden shell and four black protrusions near the top.

Matsuda gasped. "The hell? I thought only those kids in Maiami city could use Pendulum?"

Enzo chuckled. "Not so. I use the effect of Scout, paying eight hundred life points to add a 'Qli' card from my deck to my hand (Enzo: 4000 – 3200). I choose to add my Qliphort Monolith. And now, for the Pendulum summon! Swing in perpetual motion! Come to my aid, my monster servants! Qliphort Helix (Lv.6, ATK: 2400) and Qliphort Shell (Lv. 8, ATK: 2800)!" From the light came a helical golden machine with a protrusion on top and a grey and black machine covered in spikes with what looked like a small head at the top. "My Qliphort Disk gives all my Qliphort monsters an extra three hundred ATK (Qliphort Helix ATK: 2400 – 2700, Qliphort Shell ATK: 2800 – 3100)! Qliphort Helix will attack your Magician of Prophecy!" he helix began spinning, and started moving in the direction of the mage in training. He panicked as the helix drilled into him, obliterating him. The drilling motion continued towards Kaneko, and she screamed when it connected, being sent flying away (Kaneko: 4000 – 2100).

_Hard light? _thought Matsuda. "Hey, asshole, where'd you get that technology?!"

"I believe you now," Daitaro said dumbly.

Enzo simply chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that boy." He looked over to Kaneko, who was struggling to her feet. "What a shame it's over so soon. I find it hard to believe that you beat Yamato."

Matsuda's eyes widened whilst Kaneko looked confused. "Um, who is Yamato?"

"An asshole who tried to kill me," said Matsuda.

"Someone tried to kill you?!" Kaneko's eyes were wide now.

"Yeah, kinda. Guess I forgot to tell you that part." He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"He told me that your friend was a girl and that she defeated him."

"Oh," said Matsuda. "You got the wrong friend. Just what the hell do you want, anyway?!"

Enzo replied, "I want a thrilling duel with a strong opponent. Trash aren't worth the effort. In that case, this trash will be disposed of. Qliphort Shell, finish her off." The monster rushed at Kaneko, the spikes on its body looking sharp and evil.

"Not yet!" said Kaneko, panting and clearly in pain. "I activate Spellbook of Fate! By banishing two Spellbook spells from my grave I can flip a monster face down, so I'll banish Secrets and Master to flip Qliphort Shell!" Qliphort Shell was replaced by the image of a reverse card and Enzo grunted while a fourth orb appeared in the Star Hall.

"Turn end."

"My turn, draw! I activate the effect of Tower, allowing me to return Fate to the bottom of my deck and draw again. First, I activate Spellbook Library of the Crescent. I pick three Spellbooks from my deck and you pick on at random to add to my hand. I choose Spellbook of Life, Spellbook of Fate and Spellbook of Judgment!" The three cards appeared in the air before flipping and shuffling themselves, their backs to Enzo. _Come on_, thought Kaneko.

"I choose the middle card," said Enzo.

Kaneko inwardly cheered while maintaining a straight face and added the card to her hand. "Now I activate my Spellbook of Judgment. With this, during the end phase I can add Spellbooks to my hand equal to the number I activated this turn as well as special summon a spellcaster with a level equal to or less than the number of cards I add with that effect! Up next it's Spellbook of Eternity, which returns the banished Secrets to my hand! Now I activate Secrets, adding a Master to my hand, which I activate to add Spellbook of Power to my hand! Now I summon out Justice of Prophecy, and thanks to Star Hall, she gains eight hundred ATK (Lv. 3, ATK: 1600 – 2400)!" The monster appeared and was bulked up. "Now I activate Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere, to reveal the top two cards of my deck and add any Spellbooks among them to my hand!" The two cards were Spellbook Organization and Spellbook of Fate. "Now they both go to my hand, and Star Hall gains another counter (JoP ATK: 2400 – 2500). I'll activate Spellbook Organization, which lets me look at the top three cards of my deck and return the in any order!" She picked up the cards, took a cursory glance and returned them. "I activate Spellbook of Power now to give Justice a one thousand point boost (JoP ATK: 2500 – 2600 – 3500)! Now Justice of Prophecy will attack Qliphort Helix!" The mage pointed her wooden staff at Helix and it shattered (Enzo: 3200 – 2400).

"I set two cards and end my turn," she said, "and during the end phase I have a lot of effects to activate. First is Justice of Prophecy. I banish her to add a level five or higher light or dark attribute spellcaster and a Spellbook to hand. I add another Judgment and High Priestess of Prophecy. Next is Spellbook of Judgment, and I activated six Spellbooks, so I add Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere, Secrets, the Master, Eternity, Life and Wisdom to my hand and special summon Reaper of Prophecy (Lv. 6, ATK: 2000 – 3000). He has three effects that activate based on the number of Spellbooks in my graveyard, and I have enough to satisfy all three. First, he gains six hundred ATK (RoP ATK: 3000 – 3600). Then, I add a Spellbook to hand, so I'll add another Star Hall. Finally, I can special summon a level five or higher dark attribute spellcaster from my deck, so meet Wheel of Prophecy (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700 – 3700)! What looked like a humanoid lion appeared, a large creature with very pronounced muscle tone holding a massive circular shield patterned with arcane runes.

Kaneko continued, determination evident in her features. "And his summoning allows me to return my banished Spellbook of the Master to my deck. And that's the end of my turn."

"Whoa," said Daitaro, "She just got two powerhouses with over three thousand ATK out at the same time."

Matsuda smirked. "Trash? This guy doesn't know what he's let himself in for."

"Draw," said Enzo, doing so. "Impressive move, girl, but it will end here for you. I use Scout's effect once more (Enzo: 2400 – 1600) to add Apoqliphort Skybase to my hand! Now I'll pendulum summon Helix from my extra deck and Qliphort Stealth from my hand." The helical machine reappeared alongside what looked like a cloaked ship. "But they won't be around for long, because I tribute all three of my monsters to summon Apoqliphort Skybase (Lv. 9, ATK: 2900 – 3200)." All three of his monsters disappeared, fed to a gargantuan gold and white airship, half-rings jutting to the sides at forty-five degree angles, with what looked like a blue tower in the centre. "Skybase is unaffected by spell and trap cards, as well as the activated effects of monsters with a level or rank lower than its level! Next up is that pesky Star Hall, so I'll get rid of it with Mystical Space Typhoon!" The typhoon ripped through Star Hall, completely removing the effect of the spell counters (RoP ATK: 3600 – 2600, WoP ATK: 3700 – 2700).

"Next is Skybase's effect, which means I can steal one of your monsters until the end phase. I'll take your Wheel of Prophecy!" The lion-man was pulled over to Enzo's side of the field by a beam from Skybase, and stood menacingly glaring at Kaneko, who grimaced and shied away. "This duel is over. Wheel of Prophecy, attack Reaper of Prophecy!" the monster held up its shield, energy gathering as the pattern lit up. It was all released in a huge blast which tore Reaper of Prophecy to shreds. Kaneko was hit by a small amount of the energy, and she winced (Kaneko: 2100 – 2000).

"Now," said Enzo, grinning, "Apoqliphort Skybase, finish her off!" The base began charging a huge beam of blue energy, but Kaneko kept a determined look about her.

"I activate Spellbook of Healing! I can banish up to five Spellbooks from my grave to gain three hundred life points for each one! I banish Secrets, Master, Eternity, Heliosphere and Organization to gain fifteen hundred (Kaneko: 2000 – 3500)!"

"You survive, but not unscathed." Skybase finished charging and launched the beam at Kaneko. It engulfed her entirely, and she screamed. She was sent flying back, covered in bruises and lacerations. It was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, but she managed to get back to her feet and glare at Enzo (Kaneko: 3500 – 300). "Turn end." Wheel of Prophecy returned to Kaneko's side of the field.

Kaneko drew silently, but she looked disappointed. "I activate… the Grand Spellbook Tower. I return Judgment to the deck and…" She panted and laid two fingers on her deck. _Come on_, she thought. "Draw!" She looked at the card she had drawn and gave a tiny smirk that quickly fell into her usual straight face. "I reveal to you my Spellbooks of Secrets, Eternity and Wisdom to special summon High Priestess of Prophecy (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500)!" The pink-haired magician appeared.

"A useless move, really."

"Not quite," said Kaneko. "I activate Spellbook of Power (WoP ATK: 2700 – 3700)!"

Enzo grinned. "It seems you aren't trash after all. Come at me with all you have, girl!"

"With pleasure." Her voice was filled with venom. "First, Wheel of Prophecy attacks Apoqliphort Skybase." The magic erupted from the shield and collided with the airship, comparatively miniscule, but it penetrated to Skybase's core and triggered a massive explosion that engulfed the entire field. When it subsided, the monster was gone (Enzo: 1600 – 1100).

"Now, High Priestess of Prophecy, finish him off!" The priestess sent a burst of cyan magic at Enzo which hit him square in the chest, ending the duel (Enzo: 1100 – 0, winner: Kaneko).

The holograms faded and Kaneko stood panting, her body basically ruined. Enzo grinned a wide grin and said, "That was certainly entertaining. You have bested me this time, but we shall battle again, and I'll be victorious."

"Get bent," said Kaneko before walking off, leaving Matsuda and Daitaro to stand their agape.

"Did she just say that?" said Daitaro.

"I heard it too." Matsuda then took off after Kaneko, shouting, "Kaneko! You alright?" He was followed by Daitaro, leaving Enzo to stand there alone, perplexed.

Meanwhile, from a little ways away, Kimiko watched, her eyes narrowed. _Great_, she thought. _That huge bastard is after that girl, and of course Yukaro was there. Idiots are getting themselves involved in this shit, and I'm gonna be the one who has to clean up their goddamn bodies._ Pain flashed across her features and she turned on her heel and swiftly departed.

From another vantage point, Yamato watched, but he wore a smirk. _Kid seems to like surrounding himself with the strong ones, huh? Damn, looks like the climax is gonna be pretty even!_

* * *

AN: Yay, stuff happened! The mystery of Kimiko deepens, and whatever ThatLoneAvenger may say, she is NOT Amamiya xD Kaneko got a duel, obviously, she's a main character, main characters get screen time. Next chapter Daitaro will duel. Maybe. If I can figure out how to do it without Kamina levels of hamminess. Or even if I can't, actually, that sounds fun. Yamato is up to some shit, clearly, but I wonder what his overall goal is? Ooh, more mystery! Anyway, if you have any kind of question, comment, praise or criticism, please leave a review! Even if it's just to let me know you're reading. I will respond to all (non-guest) reviews in a timely fashion. Anyway, I doubt the next one will take me long, so until next time, folks.

Spellbook of Healing  
Quick-play Spell  
Banish up to 5 'Spellbook' spell cards from your graveyard; gain 300 life points for each one.


	5. HERO vs HERO

"So Enzo, I hear you got your ass handed to you," said Yamato.

"And wherever did you hear that?" said Enzo

"I told myself after I saw it. It was quite entertaining, actually."

"You were watching?"

"Of course I was. Why wouldn't I? It's not every day I get to see you get your ass kicked."

Enzo merely grunted and leaned against a wall. They were currently the only two present in a dimly lit room, shadows flicking across their faces as the open flames of candles flicked around in a non-existent breeze. It was an ominous setting, but the room itself was not what one would expect given the atmosphere within it. It was large, around fifty square feet, with a large window with blinds drawn at the back, in front of which was a heavy mahogany desk, new and varnished to a shine. Behind that was a luxury leather chair, and in front of it were three standard dining chairs. There were several deck holders on the desk, and there was a large metal cabinet next to where Enzo stood halfway along the wall opposite the door, a few inches smaller than the man but wide and deep. The room had electric lights, but they were rarely used. There was also a fairly sized bookcase next to the door, which was full.

Yamato sighed, sat on the edge one of the three chairs, leaning forward, having angled it in a way that it was half facing the desk and half facing Enzo. "What the hell is taking everyone so long?"

"I don't know. What happened to your never-ending patience?"

"I hate this room. Why the hell does he use candles when there's a goddamn light?"

As he spoke, the door opened and a deep, booming chuckle rang out into the room. "I feel it adds to the atmosphere. Would you not allow me my small foibles, Yamato?"

He turned, and saw a tall, heavily built man wearing a black duster above a heavy navy blue jumper and dark blue trousers. "Of course you are, sir, doesn't mean I have to like them."

The man chuckled again. "You are correct, of course." He removed his coat, throwing it over the back of his chair before walking over and taking his seat. "It is just the two of you?"

"It would seem that way," said Enzo.

"Very well. It was a hasty summons, so we shall begin now. Yamato, what have you found on that girl?"

Yamato smirked. "I was hoping you'd ask that. She is Kimiko Kimura, age seventeen, a student at Delta High School in her final year. She was enrolled during the summer, but interestingly enough, the government of this country has no record of her existence before then. She has a birth certificate and there is a record of her birth, but I checked the old records too, and it seems that there wasn't until recently. Her bank account was opened recently too, the day she enrolled at the school, in fact. She has no parents, the names on her birth certificate were fake, there was no record of them anywhere. She rents an apartment in the city, one-bedroom, rented the day she enrolled at the school too, on the twentieth of August. Until that date, this girl didn't exist."

"And you're sure of this?"

Yamato smirked again. "Of course I am. Government records don't lie, and neither do the dates. She just popped into existence on the twentieth of August, from nowhere."

"So you're saying we're dealing with a ghost?" said Enzo.

"Obviously not a ghost, but there's definitely something going on here."

"Do you think she followed us?" said the man.

"Can't have. She was never a member of the resistance, and if she was a part of one of the warring factions she wouldn't have even known we existed."

"Could she be related to Lady Light in some way?" said Enzo.

"Possible, but unlikely," said Yamato. "She did follow us, after all."

"How else would she know where the card is?" asked his boss.

"That one I don't know, sorry."

"Very well. Are there any associates we need worry about?"

"The closest person to a friend she has is that Yukaro kid. They go to school together, and she saved his ass when you sent me after him, if you remember."

"Indeed. Will he be a threat?"

"I don't know. He wasn't in his right mind when I duelled him, but I still imagine not."

"However," said Enzo, "He has a friend named Kaneko Ikeda who is indeed a formidable opponent. If Yukaro involves himself, it is likely his friends will join him, and I know that at least she is capable of defeating some among us."

"Like you, for instance?" said Yamato, a teasing grin on his face.

"Yes, like me, but I have no delusions that I am the most powerful among us."

"You may not have realised it at the time," said the man, "but you performed a valuable threat assessment. What's more, your losing doesn't matter, since it was merely for your own amusement."

"Thank you, sir. We also cannot discount the possibility that the Kimura girl is in some way affiliated with Lady Light."

"No, that is true. In that case, we must reach the girl quickly, extract the information and eliminate her."

"May I suggest," said Enzo, "that we take her from her school? We know when she will be there, so it is the simplest option."

Yamato sighed and cradled his head in his hands. "My god, we are not shooting up a school."

"I said nothing about 'shooting up' the school."

"No, but we have a couple of trigger-happy individuals among us who would do it just for shits and giggles. In any case, that'd draw too much attention. We'd be criminals, and we'd have a lot of police after us. That would make it kinda difficult to work, wouldn't you say?"

"Perhaps, but we could always take her from her home."

"Kidnapping someone is different from killing them. People would start looking for her, and if they found her, we'd be in deep shit. And it'd be easy for someone to spot us taking her, too."

"Then what do you propose we do?" asked the man, sighing.

Yamato smirked at this. "I say we cut out the middleman entirely. If we come across the girl, great, but I have a plan that just might work."

**HERO vs HERO! Daitaro's Fierce Spirit!**

"Alright, it's time to head to the arena so we can train! We need to be in top condition for the tournament!" said Daitaro, bouncing around on the balls of his feet. He, Matsuda and Kaneko were stood in the middle of the plaza, amongst a slow-moving crowd.

"Oh yeah," said Matsuda, "the Autumn Duel Festival is next week, huh?"

"That is right, my vertically challenged friend! This is the first stepping stone to becoming a pro duellist, and I'm going to wow the crowd with my burning hammer and take that step emphatically!"

"I'm surprised you know such a big word," muttered Kaneko.

Daitaro ignored her and pointed dramatically at Matsuda. "And you will join me!"

Matsuda sighed. "We've been over this. Me: astrophysicist. You: mid-card pro duellist."

An indignant expression overtook Daitaro's features. "I would not be a mid-carder! Take that back!"

"Okay," said Matsuda. "You wouldn't be a mid-carder, you'd be a jobber."

Daitaro slumped to his knees and began letting out an exaggerated stream of tears. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"You bring it on yourself," said Kaneko.

He pointed at Kaneko in anger. "And don't think I missed that insult to my intelligence! Respect your older brother!"

"What intelligence?"

"Dammit! I am your big brother and I command you to show respect!"

"You're fifteen minutes older than me."

"Fifteen minutes is the same as fifteen years in this situation!"

"It really isn't," said Matsuda.

"And you! Why do you have to join her and gang up on me?"

He shrugged. "Funny."

"You should be on my side! Together we're going to conquer the pro duelling circuits and become the world tag team champions… of the world!"

"Alright, Christopher Daniels, settle down. We're all entering the tournament anyway, and I'm sorry, I'm sure you'll end up in main events soon enough."

Daitaro's eyes brightened. "You really mean it?"

"Sure." Matsuda's lips played up into a teasing smirk. "When hell freezes over."

Daitaro stood up and began running towards Matsuda, who ran away, laughing. "Get back here so I can assault you!"

"Why would I do that?" said Matsuda, still laughing. Meanwhile, Kaneko simply sighed.

"Justice will be served!"

"Yeah, if you can catch me!" Matsuda was weaving through the crowd, managing not to even brush another person, whilst Daitaro was slowed down considerably by the mass of bodies in his way. However, soon enough they were out of the scrum and into a more open space towards the plaza's edge, where trees grew on the side of the road. Once Daitaro was free, he began to sprint at full speed, gaining ground on a flagging Matsuda. He was still laughing, but he was sure his friend would catch up to him soon enough. That was until he saw a female figure walking down the street towards him, her eyes narrowing as she saw him running straight at her. She'd probably cooled down by now, right? It had been three days, after all. He came upon her, ran past and ducked in behind her, stooping over in a poor attempt to use her as a hiding place.

Kimiko growled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Save me!" said Matsuda.

Even as he spoke, Daitaro reached them and slowed to a halt, breathing heavily and looking cheated. "Oh, come on, that's not fair! You know she scares the crap out of me!"

Kimiko said nothing and just glared at him.

"Uh… hello?" said Daitaro, clearly nervous.

Kimiko said nothing.

"Looks like I win this round!" said Matsuda from behind her back.

She growled and turned around, roughly standing him to his full height before flicking him hard in the forehead. "Fuck off." With this, she walked away. Apparently he had been wrong.

Daitaro, meanwhile, adopted a sympathetic expression and sidled up to his friend, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "Don't worry dude, I know how it feels to be snubbed by someone you like."

Matsuda growled. "I do not like her."

"Come on, there's no need to try hiding it, it's obvious!"

"Do you wanna die?"

"I know it hurts now, but soon enough you'll forget all about her and move on with your life."

"You really do wanna die."

"Never fear, however, because Dr. Ikeda is here to help you deal with the pain!"

"Shouldn't you be losing a duel to someone right now?"

"And now I remember why I was chasing you! Time to face the burning hammer of justice!" He threw his arms into the air and took on a determined expression.

Matsuda just walked away, sighing. "Stop talking about your burning hammer. You are not Kenta Kobashi."

"Okay, no burning hammer. How about a German suplex instead?!"

* * *

"Well, well," said Yamato, "look who it is! What a coincidence this is, it must be fate for us to meet this day!" He smirked.

Kimiko turned and growled. "What do you want?"

He was stood on an unpopulated street corner, which Kimiko had just stepped on to. It was a narrow stretch of pavement, but it was clean and well-kept. Next to Kimiko's position was a convenience store, open but clearly seeing little business. Kimiko held a bag in her hand, having stepped out of the shop moments before.

Yamato threw a sheet of paper in her direction. It floated over languorously and she caught it with ease before reading it. "Autumn Duel Festival? What about it?"

He grinned. "I think it would be in everyone's best interest for you to enter."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because Enzo and I will be participating."

"And that's supposed to entice me how?"

Yamato laughed. "You know exactly how. I can see it in your face, dear Kimi. I bet you know why we're participating, right?"

She narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. "You won't find it."

"You seem very sure about that."

"That's because I am."

"You're not gonna tell me shit, are you?"

"Hell no."

He grinned. "Thought so. Still, we're achieving our goal soon enough, with or without the interference of you or your cloaked friend."

She growled again. "You of all people should know that she'll make all the difference in the world."

"Yeah, I know. But it still won't be enough." He smirked. "Six of us and one of her."

"Like that makes a difference."

"We'll see, won't we?" He began walking away, raising a hand in a wave. "Oh, by the way, you should remain eternally grateful to me. If I hadn't stopped him, Enzo would've kidnapped you and you'd have ended up dead. That friend of yours, too, however much you wanna deny he's your friend. You shouldn't isolate yourself, you know. It's bad for you." He smirked again as he stepped up his pace and turned a corner. If he was still there, she probably would have attacked him.

Meanwhile, Kimiko just stood, trembling in anger. How dare he!

* * *

"Aw, man!" said Daitaro. "Not a single duel to be found in there!" The trio were stepping into the plaza, Daitaro slumped down in defeat.

Kaneko sighed. "We were in there for ten minutes."

"And that's too long to be waiting for an opponent!"

"You really need to work on your patience," said Matsuda.

"Patience has no place in the world of duelling!"

"That's why you're a mid-carder."

"I am not a mid-carder!"

"Masked HERO Divine Wind, finish her off!"

Daitaro's head perked up and he grinned. "Is that a duel I hear occurring?"

He looked to the centre of the plaza where a small, waifish girl was walking away in defeat from a boy of around sixteen with tanned skin and spiked brown hair with a black spike hanging over his forehead. He wore a grey and black sleeveless hoodie over a white t-shirt, with blue jeans. On his wrist was a standard duel disk with a blue body and red blade. He was currently collecting cards from the blade and putting them back in his deck.

"And he uses HEROes, too! This'll be awesome. Hey, you!" Daitaro jogged over to where the boy stood, excitement in his eyes. "Tremble in awe, for you stand in the presence of the great Daitaro Ikeda!"

"Uh, who?" said the boy. His accent was vaguely American. Daitaro almost fell over at his response.

"Ignore him," said the arriving Matsuda, "he's delusional."

"Hey, I resent that! Anyway, I challenge you to a duel! Man-to-man, HERO vs HERO!"

The boy smiled. "Oh, you play HEROes too? Cool, I'll duel you. I'm Alejandro Nagase, but you can call me Alex."

"Well then, Alex, prepare for the most intense, pulse-pounding duel of your life!" Daitaro walked a few feet away and activated his duel disk.

"Let's see if your moves back up your words!"

"Duel!" they both shouted.

Daitaro: 4000  
Alex: 4000

"A warrior has a code of honour, and that honour requires that I allow you to go first!" said Daitaro.

A bead of sweat appeared on the back of Alex's head while Matsuda and Kaneko just groaned. "Uh, okay. I'll summon Elemental HERO Sparkman (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600), then." From the card burst a hero wearing a skin-tight blue bodysuit, with a helmet of the same colour that was slightly pointed and a golden chest plate and shoulder guards. "I'll set one and pass turn."

"Then it is time for the great one to truly begin this contest!" He poised himself dramatically. "Draw!" He practically ripped the top card off his deck, and smiled when he saw it. "Ask and ye shall receive. The card I drew was Elemental HERO Blazeman (Lv. 4, ATK: 1200) and I'll summon him to the field!" He slapped the card onto his duel disk, and out came a blue-skinned man in black shorts with a red chest plate and helmet. He appeared to be on fire.

"Here we go," said Matsuda.

"I activate Blazeman's effect! Fate is shining down on me, because I can add Polymerization from my deck to my hand!" He took the card from his deck. "And obviously I'm gonna activate it. I'll fuse Blazeman on the field with the Voltic in my hand!" The fusion vortex appeared and Blazeman was sucked in, along with a muscled hero in a purple suit.

"Oh great hero, come to my aid! Burn through the evil that stands in your path and emerge victorious over forces that would threaten the innocent! Fusion summon! Bring down the burning hammer of justice, Elemental HERO Nova Master (Lv. 8, ATK: 2600)!" From the vortex emerged a large, imposing man, wearing red armour with dangerous looking spikes jutting out from his shoulders, garish golden gems set within. The tresses of a red cape flowed from his shoulders and flapped majestically in the non-existent wind.

Alex turned to Matsuda and Kaneko. "Is he always such a ham?"

"Pretty much," said Matsuda.

"Ham I may be, but I have a Nova Master who's just itching to attack that Sparkman! Nova Flare!" The hero threw a burst of fire at Sparkman, who was quickly incinerated (Alex: 4000 – 3000). "And since Nova Master destroyed your monster, I can draw a card." He did so, and smiled.

"But now my trap activates," said Alex. "Hero Signal! Since you destroyed my Sparkman, I can summon another HERO from my deck, as long as they're level four or lower. So I'll bring out Elemental HERO Shadow Mist (Lv. 4, ATK: 1000)!" A searchlight with a large 'H' inside appeared in the sky, and in response, a woman wearing all black with long, flowing hair and an impossibly small waist flew in, looking to be made of mist. "And her effect lets me add my Mask Change II to my hand." He took a card from his deck.

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," said Daitaro as two reverse cards appeared by his feet.

"Then it's my go, and I draw!" said Alex, drawing a card. "And I activate Mask Change II. I discard a card and send Shadow Mist to the grave!" Shadow Mist's helmet came off, revealing a beautiful woman, and she was enveloped in a golden light. When it subsided, there stood a man in a black bodysuit with spikes coming from his legs, and a cowl that revealed his mouth. There was also a rectangular fin-like protrusion coming from his back. "I summon Masked HERO Dark Law (Lv. 6, ATK: 2400)!"

"You should have paid better attention in maths!" said Daitaro. "Your monster doesn't have enough ATK."

"This one doesn't, but I'll fix things with Miracle Fusion! I banish Sparkman and Shadow Mist!" A fusion vortex with an 'H' in the centre appeared and sucked in ghost-like versions of the two monsters. "Bringer of Light, show your form. Radiate justice and save the world! Fusion summon! Descend, Elemental HERO the Shining (Lv. 8, ATK: 2600)!" From the vortex jumped a man who seemed to radiate pure white light, wearing a white bodysuit with a cowl of the same colour, red gems inlaid to his costume at the hips, stomach and face. From his back protruded a large golden ring, with golden lances pointing off it like spokes of a wheel reversed.

"And he gains three hundred ATK for every HERO I have banished (E-HERO the Shining ATK: 2600 – 3200). Now, attack Nova Master! Shining Justice!" Shining began to glow, his entire body being overtaken by the light. He then rushed forward, drawing back a fist.

"Not so fast!" said Daitaro, "I planned for such a situation! I activate Forbidden Dress! I can target Shining and have it lose six hundred ATK at the cost of it being unaffected by other card effects this turn (The Shining ATK: 3200 – 2600)!" Nova Master drew back his own fist, coated in flame, and both monsters struck each other at the same time, both of them shattering.

Alex said, "Shining's effect means I can add two banished HEROes back to my hand, so I bring back Sparkman and Shadow Mist." He took the cards from his pocket and added them to his hand. "Now Dark Law attacks directly! Go!" Dark Law rushed with speed so much he was almost a blur and struck Daitaro directly (Daitaro: 4000 – 1600). "I'll end my turn with a face down."

"Facing down a formidable monster and a secret trap, whatever will the great one do?"

"Great," said Matsuda. "He's commentating his own duel."

Kaneko sighed. "Sometimes I wonder how I'm related to him."

"I'll tell you what he will do," said Daitaro, posing with two fingers above his deck. "He will draw!" He ripped the top card from his deck and grinned. "I summon Summoner Monk (Lv. 4, ATK: 800), and he'll switch to DEF mode (DEF: 1600)!" The old, white-haired monk in purple robes appeared, sitting cross-legged on the ground. "And his effect: I discard a spell card to special summon a level four or lower monster from my deck, and I choose Elemental HERO Shadow Mist!" Daitaro pocketed a spell card from his hand per Dark Law's effect, and Summoner Monk threw out his arms and began to chant. The misty female hero appeared from thin air. "And I won't use her effect, since I know what Dark Law does."

"Then why summon her?" said Alex.

"For this! Miracle Fusion!" The vortex appeared, and Shadow Mist and a ghostly Voltic were sucked in. "In darkness, light can prosper. Without darkness, there cannot be light, and though darkness plagues you, your heroism will shine through! Fusion summon! Appear now, Elemental HERO Escuridao (Lv. 8, ATK: 2500)!" An entirely black man jumped from the vortex, even his face completely covered. He had thin, demonic black wings and a blue aura. "And his ATK increases by a hundred for each E-HERO in my grave, and I have two (ATK: 2500 – 2700)! Now destroy Dark Law!" Escuridao's blue aura became focused on his hand, which he pointed at Dark Law. Try as he might, Dark Law could not escape, and a burst of blue energy shattered him into a million pieces (Alex: 3000 – 2700). "That's the end of my turn."

"Alright, then I draw!" said Alex, doing so. He smirked. "First up, I activate Night Beam to get rid of your face down, and you can't chain it!" Crosshairs appeared on Daitaro's set card, and a beam ripped through it.

_Crap_, thought Daitaro. _My Mask Change._

"Next, I'll summon out Elemental HERO Sparkman." The monster appeared. "Then I activate A Hero Lives! With this, I halve my life points (Alex: 2700 – 1350) to summon Elemental HERO Avian from my deck!" The birdman appeared alongside Sparkman, nodding to his ally. "But he won't be around long, because I activate Mask Change!" A mask appeared in the air and attached itself to Avian's face. Slowly, a light enveloped him, and he began to bulk up, losing his wings and gaining a cape. When the light subsided, there stood a man in streamlined green and gold armour with a white cape flowing from his shoulders, a glowing red gem in each of his hands. "I summon Masked HERO Divine Wind (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700)!"

"Ooh, Daitaro's in trouble." Matsuda winced.

"He's lost," said Kaneko.

"Hey!" said Daitaro, "Have some faith!"

"I activate Divine Wind's effect: I can negate the effect of Escuridao until the end of the turn (Escuridao ATK: 2700 – 2500). Now, Divine Wind, destroy Escuridao!" The monster rushed forward, hitting Escuridao in the chin with his glowing palm. The dark hero screamed before shattering (Daitaro: 1600 – 1400). "Now Sparkman, finish this!" Sparkman rushed at Daitaro, electricity crackling in his palms.

"Not so fast!" said Daitaro. "For the great one has a counter! When you attack directly, I can special summon HERO's Advocate from my hand (Lv. 1, ATK: 400)!" A tall, thin man in a suit with hands in pockets appeared, his wild brown hair sweeping down past his eyes. Sparkman attacked and he was shattered instantly (Daitaro: 1400 – 200).

"That's the end of my turn," said Alex.

"The great one has a mere two hundred life points, and is staring defeat in the face!"

"I feel my sanity slipping," said Matsuda, groaning.

"I lost mine years ago," said Kaneko.

"It all rests on this final…" Daitaro poised himself with all his weight on his front foot, his fingers hovering over his deck. "Draw!" He looked at the card, and grinned. "The bond between me and my deck never fails! I activate my own Hero Lives (Daitaro: 200 – 100)! With this, I summon out my second Elemental HERO Shadow Mist!" Another of the misty women appeared on the field. "And now I can add a Mask Change to my hand, and I'll activate it!" A mask appeared on Shadow Mist's face, and the light enveloped her. When it subsided, in her place was an imposing male figure wearing black and blue armour, with a reptilian head and claws on his feet. There was a horn on his forehead, and spikes on his shoulders. "Come on out, Masked HERO Anki (Lv. 8, ATK: 2800)!"

"Guess he's won, then," said Kaneko.

"Why? What does Anki do?" asked Matsuda.

"Just watch."

"Now Anki will attack you directly!"

Alex looked dumbfounded. "Wait, what? I still have monsters out!"

Daitaro just grinned. "See, that's Anki's effect. He can attack you directly but only deal half the damage. That will be enough, though, to ensure the great Daitaro's victory!" Anki bypassed Alex's monsters and stuck out a clawed hand, slashing at the duellist (Alex: 1350 – 0).

The holograms disappeared, and Alex walked up to Daitaro and shook his hand. "Well, you're completely insane, but that was fun. Will I see you in the tournament?"

"Ha! Of course," said Daitaro. "And I plan on winning it!"

Alex smiled. "Well, I'll improve before then, and I'll be standing in your way."

Daitaro held out his fist and grinned as Alex bumped his own into it. "I look forward to it!"

"You know, it feels like that's the first duel I've seen that didn't end in someone getting hurt or really pissed off," said Matsuda.

"Why?" said Kaneko. "We've seen plenty."

"I know, it's weird."

* * *

"Yamato, who was that girl you were speaking with earlier?"

"Oh, Miranda," said Yamato, turning. "Were you watching me?"

The woman, Miranda, was in her mid-twenties and very tall, almost six feet. She was skinny, too, and curvy, and overall looked like she could be a model. She had long, silky black hair tied into a high ponytail, with sharp green eyes and porcelain skin. She wore a simple, low-cut red dress, and black heeled shoes that added three inches to her height, reaching the bottom of her knee, just an inch or two below the bottom of her tight dress. "Of course I'm watching you. Who is she?"

"Just an old acquaintance," said Yamato.

"Really? Because I looked at the records on that Kimura girl we were told about, the one that you brought to our attention."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. And that was her. What game are you playing, you snake?"

"There's no need to be insulting, Miranda." He smirked. "If you must know, we were having a pleasant and civil conversation."

"Why?" Her tone was hard, and laced with suspicion.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'you can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar'?"

"She certainly didn't look happy to see you."

"We had a disagreement. Of course, I asked her about the card."

"I doubt she told you anything."

"You're right, she didn't. But I tried, at least."

"And what was the nature of your disagreement?"

"Nothing important."

"Don't dodge the question!"

"My, my, why would I ever do something like that? It's simply a dull and uninteresting reason, that's all."

She narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning, Yamato?"

"I won't bother explaining it, it's far too complicated for you to understand."

She struck out with her fist, slamming it into a wall, hard. "Tell me why I shouldn't give the others this little bit of information? They're idiots to trust you."

He smirked again. "Like you just said, they trust me. When I give them my heartfelt denial," he crossed his hands over his heart, "they'll believe me. After all, you've always been a suspicious one, and I've more than proved my worth here."

"I don't trust you."

"Whyever not?" He gasped in mock horror. "I'll have you know that I am a perfectly trustworthy individual!"

She growled. "Once a traitor, always a traitor."

Yamato chuckled. "Well, you've got me there. But the game is on, you see, events are in motion and there's nothing that can stop them." He turned to walk away, still chuckling.

"I'm watching you," said Miranda.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

* * *

AN: I love making references. I also love Daitaro, he's such a ham xD Anyway, there's a tournament. Of course there is, this is a Yu-Gi-Oh! story, I need to showcase epic duels for character development and stuff. And obviously plot, since the villains are in there. And Kimiko, presumably, who I also love. So, so much. I love Yamato too, he's such a magnificent bastard, you have no clue what he's gonna do. Anyway, guest reviewers, thank you for your reviews but I won't respond because I don't respond to reviews in author's notes. Alejandro Nagase belongs to A5L, which brings me on to my next point: I really didn't want to take OCs for this story, but he asked and there was no reason for me to say no, so if you really, REALLY want to submit one, then I'll use them to job to the main characters in the tournament. Anyway, villain stuff is happening, Kimi is still being ice queen, Daitaro is insane and Yamato is up to something. Still. If you have a question, comment, criticism or praise, drop me a review and I shall respond in a timely manner. Seriously, even just a few words with your thoughts. Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed. Until next time, folks.

HERO's Advocate  
EARTH/Warrior/Effect  
Level 1  
ATK: 400 DEF: 400  
When your opponent declares a direct attack, you can special summon this card in ATK position (from your hand).


	6. The Autumn Duel Festival

_A gunshot. A single, piercing blast that cut through the air like butter. The world was on fire, but still, she could hear it so clearly. A bullet left the barrel of a gun at hundreds of miles an hour, spinning through the air and advancing on its target as an impossibly small rocket. First came the muzzle flash, as light travels faster than sound. She saw it, but it didn't register immediately, and the sound of the shot had already hit her ears by the time she understood what was happening. A shot had been fired. Of course, by the time she realised this, the bullet had already reached its destination, boring through flesh, bone and muscle with ease. An imperceptibly small amount of time had passed, but the damage had been done. A bullet went into the front of a chest, and out of the back. It tore through numerous blood vessels, most of them important, and ripped the flesh apart._

_They say that the heart beats ten billion times in a lifetime before it finally wears down, useless, old and frail. The heart, then, is a significantly resilient muscle, and strong, continuing to pump hard to keep blood flowing continuously through a body. Ten billion times. Unfortunately, however tough the heart may be, it is still just a muscle, and a mere muscle cannot stand up to a piece of metal moving at more than twice the speed of sound._

_A man dropped dead, his heart stopped. It hadn't reached anything near that magical ten billion, and had in fact been pumping blood even faster than usual, as a heart tends to when adrenaline floods the body during a life-and-death confrontation. _

_Life, and death. Two choices, two states of being. During one of these confrontations, you can either leave with your life, or your life can leave you. There is no middle ground, no in-between state. You are either alive, or you are dead._

_This man was undoubtedly dead._

_He was young, no less than eighteen but no more than twenty. When standing he had been tall and proud, but as the life drained from his body before he even hit the ground, he looked small. As he crumbled like a felled tree, he had tried to speak, but he couldn't. His hair was black, and soft spikes swept backwards. His violet eyes had been inquisitive and knowing, but now they were simply empty. He died before he had finished falling, no life left in his eyes, all the previous lustre of his appearance having faded so quickly it may as well have been simply evanescent._

_Looking on, unable to react, the cloaked girl suppressed a scream. Her hood was drawn up, but her eyes could be seen, and they were distraught. Before, where there had been fire, there was just dismay, and anger, and shock. How could he do such a thing? _

_She set her jaw to keep from releasing a cry of untold anguish and turned to face the man behind the barrel of the gun. He had closely-cropped, lightly spiked black hair, and wore an eclectic selection of clothing. He turned to the girl in the cloak, and his arrogance disappeared. He saw in front of him a woman with nothing to lose, a gun levelled on him. If he moved, he would be dead. _

"_Lady Light," he said, neutrally._

_She growled. "Yamato."_

_He said nothing._

"_He was your best friend, and you killed him."_

"_At one point in time, yes. But he was nothing more than an obstacle, so I did what I had to."_

"_You scum!" she screamed. "I'll kill you where you stand!"_

"_I wouldn't blame you," he said. But then he smirked. "But it wouldn't get you anywhere."_

"_I don't care." She almost spat those words, the venom lacing her tone enough to make any man quiver. But still he smirked._

"_The game is on now, my lady."_

"_The game?! You've gone insane and now you think this is all just a game?!"_

"_Why yes, yes I do. Life is nothing but a game, if you think about it. Of course, you've chosen to make the difficulty extra-hard for yourself, so one mistake and you die. And this, right now, would qualify as a mistake."_

_She heard the snick of safety catches as two people emerged from the smoke behind Yamato. A huge man with long brown hair, and an impossibly beautiful raven-haired woman. This woman eyed Yamato suspiciously, but kept her focus trained on Lady Light. Lady Light, meanwhile, began to quiver. No. Impossible!_

"_You… you wouldn't…" she said._

_He smirked again. "Oh, but clearly I would."_

"_You traitorous bastard!"_

"_That's enough out of you," said Miranda. _

"_You've been a thorn in our side for far too long," said Enzo._

"_The resistance's cloaked hero!" said Yamato. "And she's about to die."_

_Lady Light growled. She saw three guns trained on her, and no way to fight her way out of it. Fight or flight. The instinct that had kept humans alive for hundreds of thousands of years, supplying a rush of adrenaline to aid a person in either their fight or their flight, but it wasn't enough. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, invading her bloodstream and tensing her to insane degrees, but she could not go forward. Her flight instinct was screaming at her, telling her to live to fight another day, that revenge could wait._

_And so she did the only thing that she could possibly do in such a situation._

_She ran._

**The Autumn Duel Festival**

The high noon sun shone down over Nishihama, missing not one single crevice in its infinite power of illumination. It was a Saturday, but being mid-October, the day was somewhat windy, and the heat of the sun was negated by this wind. In the city's plaza there was a veritable crowd, milling about and talking amongst themselves. All wore duel disks, and all looked like they were waiting for something. There was a podium at one side with a microphone the only piece of equipment to be seen. The podium was the point of focus for the vast majority of the crowd, as if they were expecting something to manifest there.

Amongst this crowd was a lone teenage girl, paying no attention to anyone around her. Her shoulder-length crimson hair was accentuated by three blonde spikes sticking down, swept over to the left of her face.

Elsewhere in the crowd was a duo of men, one a teenager and one seemingly middle-aged. The middle-aged man was huge and had long brown hair, whilst the teenager was smaller, though tall, and his hair was black, short and softly spiked.

Close to the front was a trio of teenagers, all wearing standard duel disks. Two were boys, and they had a girl with them. One boy was very tall, such that he towered over the other one, with blue hair, the same shade as the girl's. The other boy's hair was eccentric, black spikes sweeping backwards with crimson highlights.

"Damn, how long is this gonna take?!" said Daitaro, rubbing the back of his head, clearly bored.

"Complaining isn't going to make it go any faster," said Kaneko.

"No, but it makes me feel better!"

Matsuda sighed. "Yeah, and it irritates the crap out of me."

Daitaro shrugged. "Not my problem."

"It will be if I make it your problem," said Matsuda, growling.

"Well, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!"

Matsuda sighed. His friend was right, of course. He was unnecessarily short right now, and he couldn't really do anything about it. There was a lot playing on his mind, after all. He was elsewhere most of the time, trying to fit together pieces of a puzzle he only had half the pieces to. It was infuriating, since he was no closer to solving the mystery than when he started, and it was beginning to weigh on him. He had an ice queen who wouldn't let him help her to the point of being an unadulterated bitch, a mysterious guy who'd threatened him with a gun, a huge guy who had nearly choked his best friend to death just to duel Kaneko when he'd been aiming for Kimiko, a cloaked weirdo who may or may not be a psychopath and hard light duel disks that defied technology. That was without even thinking about the stuff that had likely been going on without him around, since it was obvious that he wouldn't be around for everything that happened.

That left a question, then, of exactly how much was happening around him without him being even the slightest bit aware of it. Conceivably, this situation ran deeper than he could imagine, or perhaps there were two, or even three, different things going on at the same time, completely unconnected with each other. Of course, when he weighed up the evidence, it seemed increasingly likely that all of the strange goings-on were indeed interconnected in some way. The fact that Kimiko and Lady Light had some kind of connection practically confirmed it for him; no other possibility really made sense. He was wondering what he was missing, something obvious, something at the back of his mind that he knew, that had overwhelming evidence, but he couldn't place it. It was something that would help link some of the pieces together, but the thought continuously escaped him.

He thought of Kimiko. He wanted to help the girl, yes, but it had become more than that. When some guy threatened him with a gun for his deck, he wanted to know what was going on. For his own personal interest, and so he could help put a stop to whatever the hell it was he was doing, and the people he was doing it with. There was no doubt in his mind that there was a group up to something that could potentially endanger innocent people, and that didn't sit right with him. He was worried about Kimiko, yes, but he was worried about all the people who might end up dead as a result of Lady Light, or Yamato, or Enzo, or anyone else.

He was acting, then, for what he thought was right. So whether or not the girl wanted his help, she would get it, because it was something he would need to get to the bottom of anyway, the same way that helping her was something he'd have needed to do without the situation he had somehow become involved in, at least in his mind.

He was broken from his thoughts by a light punch to his arm, and turning to its source, Daitaro, he noticed that his friend was pointing up to the podium and that the entire crowd had gone deathly silent. He heard microphone feedback and looked over to the podium, where he saw a man stood, poised to speak.

The man was tall and wide, with violet hair slicked back over his head, reaching just below his ears. He wore a crisp black suit with a blue tie, and looked to be around forty or forty-five, his face showing signs of wear and age.

"Good afternoon, duellists, and welcome to the Autumn Duel Festival!" he said. His deep, booming voice likely would have carried even without the microphone. "You may not recognise me, but I am the new committee chair for the Duel Festival, Takashi Amane. Before we begin, it is with great regret that I must inform you of the previous chair, Noriaki Miyamoto's, passing. He died three days ago under mysterious circumstances, and his death is currently being investigated." He looked down, sadness in his eyes. "However, the city decided to move forward with the festival, as it is a mainstay of this city's culture, and so I was appointed to oversee it. Be that as it may, I would like for us all to observe a minute's silence to honour his memory." He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, the gathered crowd doing the same. Slowly, a minute passed, and he began to speak again.

"Now," he said, "the rules of the festival. There are around four hundred duellists here today, and it is the aim of the festival's free-for-all round to bring this number down to just four. During the free-for-all, you may challenge any other participant to a duel. The winner will receive a point, which will be registered in your duel disk. The loser will be instantly eliminated from the competition, no matter how many points they have. The first four participants to reach five points will advance to the semi-finals in the Nishihama Action Duel arena, whereupon the semi-finals will be contested in single-elimination format, leading to a one-on-one final match for the tournament.

"Now, this is a tournament format that has been used many times before and succeeded every time, so we have no doubt as to its continued success here. Now, each of the semi-finalists will receive a booster box of their choice, as well as one of ten special promotional cards. The promotional cards cannot be used in the tournament, but are free to be used anywhere once the finals have been completed. On top of this, the winner will receive one hundred thousand yen as a prize." Excited murmurs began running through the crowd, and cheers could begin to be heard.

"The tournament will begin when the clock strikes one. Alliances are allowed, as are tag duels, but when the semi-finals are reached, you will have no allies but yourself. Good luck to all participants!"

* * *

"Alright!" said Daitaro. "I think it's about time we got started! Matsuda! Duel me!"

Matsuda sighed. "You really are a dumbass, you know?"

"Oh, and why's that?!"

"Does it not make more sense for us to go out and duel other people, so then we can all reach the finals?"

Daitaro scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Huh, guess you have a point. But I'm gonna get there first, you count on it!" With that, he ran off.

Matsuda, meanwhile, sighed again.

"What's wrong?" said Kaneko.

"Nothing," said Matsuda.

She put her face just inches away from his own and stared into his eyes. "Don't lie to me. Your temper is short, you've been somewhere else for half the day and you're not even making an effort to pick on Daitaro."

He sighed again. "I'm just lost in my thoughts, okay?"

"Is it Kimura? She's been on your mind a lot recently."

"More than that. Just this entire damned situation, none of it makes any sense. She's somewhere near the middle with that cloaked weirdo, and I'm still no closer to figuring out anything. My brain is slowly turning to pudding just trying."

"Well, I saw her earlier. She's competing in the tournament."

Matsuda perked up slightly. "Really?"

"Yes, and that man who forced me into duelling him. Whatever may be happening is happening here too, so it might get easier to get to the bottom of things. And I'll be helping you, so you don't have to worry, okay?" She favoured him with a small smile, which he returned.

"Heh, thanks."

"What are friends for?"

Matsuda let out another sigh and grinned as he looked out over the plaza. "Yeah, guess you got a point there."

She smirked. "After all, I have to help you so you and Kimura can make many babies together."

"For the love of god, not you as well!"

* * *

"Masked HERO Anki, attack directly!" Daitaro pointed to his opponent, a thirteen year old boy with dark hair and glasses, and the reptilian hero struck out a claw at him, bypassing his monsters and reducing his life points to zero. Daitaro laughed and gave the boy a thumbs-up. "That was a good duel, but I'm afraid you just don't measure up to the great one! Rest assured, though, you can gain consolation in the fact that you are his first stepping stone to victory!"

The boy looked puzzled. "Why are you talking in third person? And if you're so great, how come I've never heard of you?"

Daitaro just fell over.

* * *

"I'll use my High Priestess of Prophecy's effect," said Kaneko. "I banish the Spellbook of Wisdom in my graveyard to destroy your Thunder End Dragon." The priestess shot off a burst of magic at the dragon, and it shattered into pieces. The man behind the monster sighed in resignation, knowing what was coming.

"Now," said Kaneko, "High Priestess of Prophecy will attack directly." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and watched as the man was blasted, his life points falling to zero. She merely smirked.

* * *

"With Apoqliphort Skybase I can take control of your Dark Armed Dragon," said Enzo, a bored expression on his face. "Honestly, such trash. This wasn't even a challenge. Dark Armed Dragon, annihilate your master."

Enzo's opponent screamed as a stream of darkness overtook him, obliterating his life points and covering him in burns and lacerations, the hard light causing the boy serious damage. Enzo sighed and walked away.

"Why can I not find an exciting opponent?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Yamato just smirked down at his opponent, who had already been defeated and was lying motionless on the ground.

"Time for some fun, then," said Yamato. He walked away, knowing exactly where he was going. He walked quickly, with purpose in his steps, and quickly came upon his destination.

"Now, Constellar Praesepe will attack directly and finish this duel!" said Kimiko. Her icy tone cut through her opponent more than the attack would have, were it real. As soon as her life points fell to nothing, Kimiko's opponent tried to speak, but didn't get the chance when all she saw was the receding back of Kimiko.

Kimiko rounded a corner and snarled when she saw a smirking Yamato, instantly readying her duel disk.

"Come now," said Yamato, "it isn't time for us to fight yet. I just wanted to commend you for making the right decision."

"You mean for playing right into your hands?" The only thing harder than her tone was her glare.

"It just so happens that playing the game is the right decision, Kimi."

Her eyes narrowed and she grit her teeth. "Haven't I told you that you're not allowed to call me that?"

"And whyever not? I thought we were best friends!"

"Not after what you did, you bastard."

"I'm confused now, what did I ever do to you?"

"You know exactly what you did."

Yamato chuckled. "I suppose I do. But how do you think Lady Light feels, hmm?"

Kimiko winced, and rage took over her features. "Watch your mouth."

"I'm afraid I can't, it seems to be physically impossible."

Kimiko was shaking now, ready to explode. "Pretty soon I'll make walking physically impossible for you."

"Ooh, threatening violence!" He jumped up giddily before setting his face more seriously. "How mature of you."

Kimiko said nothing, instead just glaring at him.

"Oop, gotta go! It looks like your friend is on the way here, and I think it's about time you two had a serious talk! See ya!" He ran away, leaving Kimiko very confused and very angry. She turned to walk away, and saw none other than Matsuda Yukaro walk by her, turning with an inquisitive look about him.

"The hell is wrong with you?"

She said nothing, and just tried to walk away. It was dark, around nine in the evening, but even in the dark she could see a fire light up in his eyes as she tried walking past him. That walk was abruptly stopped when she felt a hand grab her by the arm.

She growled. "Get your hand off me or I'll break it."

He growled in response. "No. You know what? No. I do nothing but try to help you, like you did for me, and you do nothing but act like a complete bitch. Hell, all I did was ask what was wrong and you looked at me like a pile of dog shit and ignored me. You just threatened to break my goddamn hand!" With deceptive strength, he pulled her in to him so their faces were only inches apart. Two hard glares met, two sets of eyes filled with anger stared into each other, with neither giving the other any room to move.

"Well guess what?" said Matsuda. "Fuck you." He let go of her arm, and was instantly filled with a pang of regret. That had been damn stupid, and what's more, she looked like she was about to do him serious bodily harm. He opened his mouth to apologise, but was cut short by a fist flying straight at his face. He shut his eyes and braced for impact, but it never came. He tentatively opened one eye to see her fist less than an inch from his face, trembling uncontrollably.

"Um, are you okay?" he said softly.

She lowered her fist and managed a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she said, before walking away quickly. He was left rooted to the spot, unable to speak.

* * *

AN: So that happened. Treat someone like shit long enough, they'll snap. Yamato is still a magnificent bastard, but here you get a bit of insight in to exactly why Lady Light hates him. Of course, this being a mind screwdriver designed to turn your brains to pudding before anything actually gets resolved, more questions were asked than answered. So you now have precisely one answer and about a gajillion possibilities for everything else. Have fun guessing! Next chapter will have the tournament start proper, and epic duel action will be abound! Everyone important has a point now (including Matsuda, he just got it offscreen), so yay! If you have a question, comment, praise or criticism, chuck me a review and I will respond in a timely fashion. Until next time, folks.


	7. The Agent of Mystery

_The summer sun shone down, bestowing a bright sheen upon a small town, and upon a girl stood within a small, nondescript park. The girl was not tall, not short, with a lithe but athletic build. Her face was heart-shaped, her eyes narrow and a piercing green. She had crimson hair flowing down over her shoulders, three blonde spikes protruding down over her forehead, and wore a duel disk on her wrist._

_The park was green, even the small play area in the centre painted in the colour. __A lush field surrounded the area, flanked by tall oaks, probably older than the town itself. On one side stood the girl, with what looked to be a giant dragon in front of her, opening its maw, ready to shoot out a blast of light._

_Across from the girl was a boy, around the same age, tall, with black hair reaching his shoulders, jutting out enigmatically, crimson highlights accentuating it. He was blasted by a solid stream of light, flying back and flipping over himself before landing on his front._

_The girl marched over, a smirk adorning her face, eyes full of amusement. The boy looked up, confused, looking as if a tear was ready to fall from his eye. He drew himself to a sitting position and, rubbing the back of his head, began to laugh uncontrollably. The girl began to laugh with him, and extended a hand after recovering herself._

_He took the offered hand gratefully, pulling himself to his feet, wiping a tear from his eye, his grin still wide. A voice rang out from beyond the scene, and they both turned, their grins becoming even wider upon seeing a black-haired youth with an eccentric fashion sense walking over to them._

_The three finally met, and then, for a single shining moment, all three were beaming, a memory to be captured forever, as if all three smiles were now frozen eternally within a monochrome photograph._

_The last vestiges of twilight, before night fell, before darkness descended and this memory became the last; a future shattered, a still mental picture all that remained._

"Those were the days, right?"

Kimiko looked over her shoulder and scowled. Even the bastard's smirking face was offensive to her.

"You know, it'd be a shame if the wind changed," said Yamato. "That pretty face of yours would be stuck in a permanent scowl."

"Are you following me?" said Kimiko, her voice cold and hard.

Yamato chuckled and said, "of course not! Why, this is just a chance encounter!"

"Cut the shit, Yamato. This place isn't exactly on the way anywhere." The two were currently occupying a small, nondescript park, a field of green surrounding a small play area. The pitch dark didn't stop Kimiko from staring off into the blackness and sighing wistfully. She was sat on a wooden bench, Yamato walking over and leaning over the back. She blanched in disgust, but Yamato ignored it.

"Then just what are you doing here? I didn't think you were the kind of person to live in the past."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He smirked. "Cut the shit, Kimiko. I can see it too, staring out into the night and seeing afternoon."

"Why the hell would you care?"

"I never said I did. But it is interesting, considering that Yukaro kid, that you'd be remembering that shit."

She froze up and snarled. "Shut the hell up."

He giggled, almost madly, and said, "hit a nerve, did I?"

Kimiko said nothing.

"You know, he reminds me of him too, you know."

Kimiko said nothing.

"Worried about history repeating itself?"

Kimiko said nothing.

"Well, if he's anything like that man, it most certainly will. And once again, it'll be your fault!"

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Tears streamed from her eyes as she stood and swung her fist wildly at Yamato, it only meeting the flesh of his hand and he gave a maniacal smirk.

"Now, now, 'don't let emotions overcome you', isn't that something you taught me?"

She growled. "I'll kill you."

"You're welcome to try, but you're missing the fact that I have back-up."

"You think I don't?"

He looked thoughtful for a second before returning to his arrogant smirk. "I'm not worried about that, after all, I've never seen the two of you in the same place at the same time. It's almost as if when one exists, the other is a ghost, wouldn't you say? Or do you plan on getting your only friend in this world killed? The boy who was willing to put faith in you, to take a blow for you, without knowing anything about who you really are? About what you've done?" His smirk grew even wider. "Using people selfishly to attain your goal, my, how you've changed."

"Like you're any different!"

"Of course not, but the difference is that I'm willing to admit it." He released her fist and began to walk away, raising a hand in farewell. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to do this much anymore, seeing as how I'm being watched. I doubt I'll be able to give them the slip again, so this is sayonara for now." He looked back over his shoulder, a malevolent grin matching the tone of his voice. "It's a shame, I always love our conversations. Oh well, see you in the finals, Kimi dear."

Kimiko simply slumped down onto the bench, cradling her head in her hands.

**The Agent of Mystery**

Sunday was usually a rest day, an old tradition of the Christian faith that spread far and wide. Of course, in Japan, such a thing was less pronounced, but even still, Matsuda had adopted it as a day of wearing no pants and doing nothing. Both were rules he considered vital to a good Sunday, along with the statutory never waking up before noon, and he had broken all of them. It was ten in the morning, an autumn sun shining but not managing to warm anyone, thanks to a biting wind tearing through the city.

Yet Matsuda was up before noon, wearing pants and out of the house doing something. Such a break from the young man's impenetrable routine might lead one to wonder of another concussion, but one would be wrong; his activity was justified by his participation in the duel festival, and he was rather keen to get his hands on the grand prize. After all, such a large sum of money and countless trading card for simply winning seven duels was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

He was without any company for the moment, though he was sure that at least Daitaro would show up at some point to execute his eccentricities on some poor, unsuspecting duelist, which would at least provide some amusement, Matsuda thought.

He sat down on a bench in the city's plaza, which was currently occupied by a veritable crowd, and at least three duels were occurring. _All of while I should still be in bed, _he thought. He watched a Batteryman Industrial Strength destroy a Winged Kuriboh, and began to look around, seeing if he could spot an unoccupied individual to occupy.

As it happened, though, such an individual was out of his sight, but looking straight at him. He said something into the mouthpiece of his phone, listening to the reply and giving an affirmative before shutting off the call and pocketing the device.

As Matsuda's eyes darted around, he caught sight of a boy walking in his direction. He was short, wearing rectangular frameless glasses which obscured brilliant blue eyes, a tangled mass of black hair sitting atop his head. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans, which confused Matsuda, given the temperature, but he ignored it. He himself was wearing a black zip-up hoodie, which itself wasn't really thick enough for the windy day.

Matsuda's eyes remained on the boy as he continued to approach, finally stopping around five feet away from him, his own gaze meeting Matsuda's.

"My name is Kenta Miyano," he said, his voice cool, "and I would like to be your opponent."

Matsuda gave a small smile, standing up. "Well then, what are we waiting for? I'm Matsuda Yukaro, by the way."

Kenta's straight face broke into a small smirk for a split second as he walked away, setting himself an acceptable distance from his opponent. "I warn you, this will be your last duel in the tournament."

It was Matsuda's turn to smirk, and he said, "you talk big, but let's see if you can back it up!"

"Duel!"

Kenta: 4000  
Matsuda: 4000

"I shall take the first turn," said Kenta, his face remaining impassive. "I set a monster and a card face down. Turn end."

Matsuda looked on, confused. "From your talk, I was expecting something a little more impressive, but whatever. Draw!" He drew his card, and threw it down onto his duel disk almost instantly. "I summon Cosmic HERO Galactic Guardian!" A man with short brown hair wearing a silver mask with perfectly circular red eyes and a red duster burst on to the field (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600).

"And when I summon him, I can add a Cosmic HERO to my hand from my deck, so I'll choose Cosmic HERO Data Dog!" said Matsuda, picking the card out of his deck. "And Data Dog can be special summoned when I control a Cosmic HERO monster!" A small Welsh corgi phased into existence, barking and nuzzling up to Galactic Guardian's leg (Lv. 1, ATK: 100).

"The great part is that when used for a synchro summon, Data Dog can be treated as a level two monster, so I'll be tuning the level two tuner Data Dog with the level four Galactic Guardian." The corgi turned into two bright stars, which soon again morphed into a pair of green rings, which surrounded Galactic Guardian, turning it into four stars before a pillar of light flashed through them.

"Oh great diamond star, with your unwavering brightness, come to my aid and with magnitude unrivalled, burn your enemies to ashes! Synchro summon, level six! Shine, Cosmic HERO P Cygni!" From the light emerged a tall, thin and hairless man, covered in strange markings. His skin was entirely blue, and he glowed. His head was in the shape of a diamond, each facet glowing with a different intensity (Lv. 6, ATK: 2200).

"When I synchro summon P Cygni, I can destroy one card on the field and then draw one! Say goodbye to your facedown!"

"Trap, activate," said Kenta, his face still impassive, his voice betraying no distress. "Treacherous Trap Hole. Since I have no trap cards in my graveyard, I may destroy two monsters."

"But why not activate it before I synchro summoned?" said Matsuda, watching a huge hole open up in the ground and swallow both of their monsters whole. P Cygni shattered into pieces as a small boy with dark hair screamed and also shattered.

"The Agent of Deception - Pluto. When destroyed by a card effect, you take five hundred points of damage and must discard a card."

Matsuda sighed as he discarded, and a blast of wind forced him to step back (Matsuda: 4000 - 3500). "I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Then I will draw," said Kenta, adding the drawn card to his hand. "I activate The Sanctuary in the Sky." The field was enveloped by a shimmering city, golden and beautiful, huge white buildings floating on an endless array of fluffy clouds. "Next, I activate the spell card Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny HERO - Malicious to draw two cards." He did so, picking out one of his newly drawn cards.

"Now, I shall summon The Agent of Mystery - Earth." A small fairy appeared, with flowing hair and light blue skin (Lv. 2, ATK: 1000). "With her effect, I may add an Agent to my hand, but with my Sanctuary active, I can add Master Hyperion instead." He showed the card to Matsuda, adding it to his hand.

"I will now use the effect of Destiny HERO Malicious in my graveyard, and banish him to summon forth another." A huge man with three horns, horned wings and brown skin appeared in a spectral form, shattering before being replaced by a solid version (Lv. 6, ATK: 800).

"And now, I will tune my level two Agent of Mystery - Earth with the level six Destiny HERO Malicious." Earth became two green synchro rings, surrounding the demonic warrior in a flash of light. "From the depths of the junkyard, become corporeal through your undying soul. Synchro summon, level eight. Appear now, Scrap Dragon." A dragon, seemingly made entirely of junk, took flight and roared at Matsuda (Lv. 8, ATK: 2800).

"I now set a card and activate Scrap Dragon's effect: I destroy my facedown in exchange for destroying one of yours." Scrap Dragon roared, and both Kenta's set card and Matsuda's leftmost card were shattered by the force of its voice. "Now, Scrap Dragon, attack directly." He pointed towards Matsuda, his face still impassive, and Scrap Dragon roared, releasing a torrent of junk from its jaw as it did so.

Matsuda smirked. "Trap card, open! Satellite Shield! This negates your attack!"

Kenta pushed up his glasses and said, "I shall chain Forbidden Lance from my hand. At the cost of eight hundred ATK, Scrap Dragon is unaffected by your trap (Scrap Dragon ATK: 2800 - 2000)." A lance appeared in the dragon's claws, and Matsuda was struck by the barrage of junk and went flying back (Matsuda: 3500 - 1500). "Turn end (Scrap Dragon ATK: 2000 - 2800)."

Matsuda dragged himself to his feet, a smile beginning to form. "Damn, you're good. But you're not as good as me! Draw!" He drew his card and grinned. "Alright, things are beginning to look up! Since you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon Cosmic HERO Solar Wind from my hand!" The man made of wind whirled his way into existence (Lv. 5, ATK: 2100), and Matsuda took another card from his hand.

"Now I'll normal summon Cosmic HERO Space Pilot!" The serious woman appeared in her flight suit. "And with her effect, I can special summon Galactic Guardian from the grave, allowing me to add Cosmic HERO Black Hole to my hand!" Galactic Guardian popped into existence next to Space Pilot, giving her a thumbs up (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600) and Matsuda added the aforementioned card to his hand.

"Now for the main event! I tune the level three Space Pilot with the level five Solar Wind!" Space Pilot's rings surrounded the wind-man, and the familiar flash of light made the Sanctuary even brighter. "To me, the closest, to me, the brightest. Though you exist light-years away, come to my aid and storm forth with your undying light! Synchro summon, level eight! Shine, Cosmic HERO Proxima Centauri!"

The light faded, and a vague, centaur-like figure of entirely white light appeared, almost too intense to look at without being blinded (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700).

"Wow," said Matsuda, "I think I need to turn the brightness down. All this light is getting to my retinas."

"I fail to see what good that monster will do you," said Kenta.

Matsuda smirked. "Then I'll explain. This guy gains three hundred attack points for every HERO monster in either player's graveyard. I have three, and you have two, so he gains five hundred points (Proxima Centauri ATK: 2700 - 3200)! And now, he'll attack your Scrap Dragon!" The being of pure light suddenly began to expand, enveloping Scrap Dragon in no time at all, resulting in a pained roar. The light went on to surround Kenta before fading (Kenta: 4000 - 3600).

"Now Galactic Guardian attacks directly!" The masked guardian took out an oddly-shaped pistol and hit Kenta in the chest with a double-tap (Kenta: 3600 - 2000). "I'll end my turn with a facedown!" A reverse card appeared at his feet, and Kenta drew his card.

"I shall banish my Agent of Deception - Pluto to special summon Master Hyperion!" To the field came a silver man with purple markings beneath his eyes, wearing heavy armour. He towered over Matsuda's monsters, coming level with the tallest of the Sanctuary's buildings (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700).

"I'm betting he has some awesome effect, right?" said Matsuda, his face falling.

"Indeed he does. By banishing a fairy-type monster, such as The Agent of Mystery - Earth, I can destroy a card on the field. I shall choose Proxima Centauri." Hyperion held his palms apart from each other, a miniature of the solar system, complete with orbital paths, appeared in his hands. Earth's orbit flashed brightly, and a torrent of fire shot out and drilled a hole through the centaur-like being.

"Now," said Kenta, "Hyperion will attack Galactic Guardian." Another torrent of fire came, this time drilling through Galactic Guardian and impacting Matsuda as well (Matsuda: 2000 - 900). "I set one card face down. Turn end."

"Draw!" Matsuda drew, and smirked once more. "I activate Star Explosion!" A miniature sun appeared on the field before exploding violently, causing flame to swirl through the air. "With this I can special summon a Cosmic HERO monster from my graveyard with its effects negated." The flame began to take form, and a familiar figure emerged from the smoke. "Welcome back, Galactic Guardian!

"I'm not done yet, though! I activate my facedown, Cosmic Background Radiation! When a monster is special summoned, I can use this to summon a Cosmic HERO monster of the same level, so I'll bring out Cosmic HERO Motivator!" The blue haired, red-caped man fell to the ground before the two duelists, descending from above the shining city and landing with a loud thud, even cracking the ground (Lv. 4, ATK: 1500).

"Next, I'll normal summon Cosmic HERO Planetes (Lv. 4, ATK: 1400)."

"Interesting," said Kenta, his voice telling a different tale to his words, "do you plan to xyz summon?"

"Afraid I'll have to subvert your expectation there." Matsuda grinned. Actually, I'm going to tribute my three monsters to special summon this guy from my hand! Come out, Cosmic HERO Spiral Arm!" Matsuda's three monsters began to fade, before becoming flashes of light fitting with the field. They shot upwards, combining together to form a ball almost as large as Master Hyperion. The light flashed and pulsed, forming into a figure. As the light faded, the figure was revealed to be entirely black, except for his arms, which were curved, and looked to be composed of many tiny pricks of light and tiny gaseous clouds, much like the arms of a spiral galaxy (Lv. 12, ATK: 3500).

"Now he'll attack Master Hyperion!" Matsuda pointed at the monster, and one of the arms slowly began to extend, cutting through a stream of fire sent in a desperate attempt at defence. As soon as the arm came into contact with Kenta's monster he crumbled into ashes, the ashes into dust, and the dust into atoms.

"Unfortunately for you," said Kenta, "The Sanctuary in the Sky means I take no battle damage from battles involving a fairy-type monster."

Matsuda's smirk remained, however. "Unfortunately for you, Spiral Arm isn't just a beatstick. When he destroys a monster, I can special summon a Cosmic HERO monster from my extra deck, ignoring summoning conditions. Let's see how you like my Cosmic HERO Andromeda!" A spiral arm extended, and from it emerged the ethereal, galactic woman, her beautiful song permeating every corner of the sky's sanctuary (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500).

"Now, Andromeda, Black Hole Sun! End this!" Her chest opened, but rather than being sucked in, Kenta was pelted by a huge amount of radiation (Kenta: 2000 - 0, Winner: Matsuda).

The holograms disappeared, and Kenta strode over to Matsuda, his face still impassive and emotionless.

"Nice duel!" said Matsuda, grinning. "You got skills, kid."

"You have bested me," said Kenta in a monotone. "You shall teach me."

"Wait, what?" Matsuda looked confused. "Uh, I don't want a student."

Without warning, Kenta was right in Matsuda's face, his first expression being shown to be a remarkably creepy one. "Tell me your secrets... all of them..."

"You're kinda scaring me."

* * *

"My, my, Miranda, you're quite thorough, aren't you?" said Yamato, wearing an amused grin.

"Shut it, Yamato," she said, her tone scathing. "The boy is a loose end, he needs to be watched."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "but why send him?"

"He's the most likely to go undetected, you idiot. If you're supposed to be a genius, how can you not even figure that out?"

"I'm just saying, maybe he'd be better used somewhere else."

"And that's why you're not in charge."

Yamato gave a manic giggle. "That's one loose end, but there's still another one. I guess I'll go after the girl, then."

"No," said Miranda, almost spitting her words, "I'll take care of her. You're busy, are you not?"

"Well, you've got me there." He waved it away nonchalantly. "Do what you want, but I warn you, she's a bit of a firecracker."

"I'll keep it in mind." She gave a final poisonous glare at Yamato before leaving the room, leaving him on his own in the dark office.

"What a troublesome woman."

* * *

_What a weird dude..._ Matsuda had finally managed to rid himself of his unwanted apprentice, and was beginning a slow walk home. His escape had taken him to some random back street, but he knew the way, he thought. Or at least the general direction. However, he had not been walking in that general direction long when he saw a head of crimson hair about to turn a corner, and as it did, he recognised the portion of face that showed. It was unmistakable. He ran after the person, turning the corner and quickly catching them, putting a hand on their shoulder.

Hard eyes softened slightly upon seeing him stood there, panting. "What do you want?" said Kimiko, her voice still hard.

"I didn't get to say last night," he said, trying to catch his breath. "Apology accepted. If you wanna tell me what it is that made you so damn bitchy."

Her eyes narrowed. "Do you want to die?"

Matsuda's eye twitched and he grit his teeth. "The hell? You apologise, then go right back to being a dick? What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm being serious," she said gravely, "do you want to die? Because if you keep digging, you will."

"Oh, what, and you're just trying to protect me, right? Bullshit! You're right in the middle of some shady shit, right here. That cloaked weirdo, that Yamato guy, and that huge dude that looked like he was ready to kill my friend, and you probably know about it all! Well guess what? Whether you like it or not, I'm involved here too. That guy's coming back for Kaneko, and Yamato would probably kill just about anyone, including me, since he's already tried!

"You think you're helping people, but really, by doing what you're doing, you're causing more harm than good. I'm willing to bet all those murders and even that city official getting killed are a part of this shit, and you think you can fight that battle alone? All that's gonna happen is that you'll be the next obituary and whatever it is they're planning on doing will get done. So what the hell good is isolating yourself gonna do?! If you don't want my help, then at least go to the police or something, because really, I do take it as a personal affront when some maniac points a gun at my head!"

Kimiko sighed, her expression softening slightly. "This is beyond the police, and beyond you. I'll make sure that they don't come near you, believe me. I'm capable of protecting you and everyone else on my own."

"No-one's capable of that," said Matsuda. "Shouldering that burden alone is impossible."

"I don't care."

"Fine then," he said coldly. "I'll stop bothering you. I'll let you get on with it, because obviously you're the kind of secretive, untrustworthy person it isn't worth being friends with. So I won't even care. If I hear your name next on the news, I won't bat an eyelid. If you disappear, I won't notice. To me, now, you never even existed."

Kimiko said nothing and instead simply continued walking.

Matsuda glared at the back of her head. _Did I go too far? Whatever, I don't care anymore._

* * *

AN: Sorry for the wait on this one, my laptop broke and took the hard drive with it. Bye bye all my files. Anyway, plot! Flashback! That flashback was probably influenced by the hilariously vague ones in Darker Than Black, which I love. I imagine Jason Liebrecht as Matsuda (go watch him as Yato in Noragami and tell me he's not perfect), but I digress. Plot and a bit of development, yay. And yes, Matsuda, you did go a bit too far, but hey, no-one's perfect.

Big up to my buddy ThatLoneAvenger for his eternal support of this story, all the way since chapter one. His long-ass reviews and astute criticisms are constantly helping me to better myself, and you should totally check out his story Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death (which I now beta, by the way).

Anyway, if you have a question, comment, criticism or praise, as usual, drop me a review and I will get back to you as soon as is convenient. Until next time, folks.

The Agent of Deception - Pluto  
LIGHT/Fairy/Effect  
Level 1  
ATK: 300 DEF: 500  
When this card on the field is destroyed by a card effect: inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent's life points, and if you do; they discard one card.

Cosmic HERO Galactic Guardian  
LIGHT/Warrior/Effect  
Level 4  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 900  
When this card is normal or special summoned: you can add one 'Cosmic HERO' monster from your deck to your hand.

Cosmic HERO Data Dog  
EARTH/Beast/Tuner/Effect  
Level 1  
ATK: 100 DEF: 100  
When this card is used for the synchro summon of a HERO synchro monster: its level becomes 2.

Cosmic HERO P Cygni  
LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 6  
ATK: 2200 DEF: 2400  
When this card is synchro summoned: target one card on the field; destroy it, and if you do; draw one card.

Cosmic HERO Proxima Centauri  
LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 8  
ATK: 2700 DEF: 2300  
This card gains 100 ATK for each HERO monster in either player's graveyard.

Cosmic HERO Spiral Arm  
LIGHT/Warrior/Effect  
Level 12  
ATK: 3500 DEF: 3500  
Cannot be normal summoned/set. Must first be special summoned by tributing 3 Cosmic HERO monsters you control. This card is also treated as being DARK-attribute on the field. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this card's summon. When this card attacks, cards and effects cannot be activated until the end of the damage step. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: target one HERO monster in your extra deck: special summon that target, ignoring summoning conditions.

Star Explosion  
Normal Spell  
Special summon one 'Cosmic HERO' monster from your graveyard. Its effects are negated and it is destroyed at the end phase.


	8. Advent of Shadows

"Yes, sir; of course," said Kenta. He had his phone to his ear whilst lounging in a red armchair within a spacious living room. The walls were cream, the lighting bright, and the chair alongside a two-seater sofa of the same design, a coffee table in front of them, with a large television across the room. "Yes, I dueled him."

"And?" said a deep male voice on the other end of the phone. "What did you find?"

"As expected, really. Impressive, but not quite ready." His impassive tone had disappeared, and he instead wore a smirk and spoke with amusement in his voice.

"You're sure?"

"Would I be telling you if I wasn't?"

"You should watch your mouth, Kenta."

"I can't, it's physically impossible."

The voice groaned and said, "do you think he suspects you?"

Kenta allowed his smirk to grow slightly and said, "not a chance. To him, I'm just a creepy junior who wants to be his apprentice. Playing that person really is tiresome, you know."

"You'll have to live with it, I'm afraid. For what it's worth, it shouldn't be much longer."

"Given this set-up you've got for me, you can take as long as you like, sir."

"Good to know. What about the girl?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. There are seven billion people in this world, about half are women."

"Kimura, you dolt."

"Oh, the ice queen? Well, I followed Yukaro earlier and they seemed to be having a bit of a lover's quarrel. Looks like she's determined to take this problem down on her own."

"What a troublesome child. And Lady Light?"

"No-one has a damn clue who she is, and I get the sense Kimura isn't telling."

"I don't really care who she is, I care what she's doing."

"Nothing much, recently; she shot up some goons the other day, that's about it."

"This is troubling."

"You think so? Honestly, I think that just makes it obvious that she has the key."

"I preferred it when she was proactive. It made her easier to find."

"Well, I guess things can't always go our way. Speaking of, there's something else you should know."

"Do tell."

"There's someone else watching."

**Advent of Shadows**

Kimiko sighed. Four points up, but none of it really felt like a challenge anymore. Hell, even if it did, it probably still wouldn't satisfy her. Her burdens weighed heavily upon her, and she knew she couldn't share them with anyone. Especially him.

It wasn't that she didn't want help. She'd love to be able to share her burden, but she simply couldn't drag anyone else into it, no matter how much she trusted them. No matter how much she wanted to fight alongside them.

She wasn't making that mistake again.

Then there was the key to consider. It was only a matter of time until they found out where it was and chased it, so she didn't have time to bandy about with camaraderie and kinship. She had to protect the key, protect this world, protect everything she cared about, and even everything she didn't. She didn't have a choice.

She walked down a dark, empty street, absorbed in her own mind. So absorbed, in fact, she didn't notice the girl in front of her until they were both sprawling on their asses.

'Kimura,' said Kaneko, offering a hand that was accepted after a moment's hesitation. 'Lost in thought as well?'

'I suppose you could say that.'

'Would you like a suggestion?'

'Not really.' She glared, causing Kaneko to shy away.

'Very well. I won't tell you that you should feel free to lean on people when you need to. I'll let you realise it when you fail.'

She had spoken quietly, almost inaudibly, and hurried off without giving Kimiko a chance to respond, leaving her red in the ears. How in the hell could someone so shy be so aggravating in a single sentence?

What the hell did that annoying bitch know anyway? Had she ever been in a life-or-death battle, forced to protect those she fought with to the detriment of her own fights? Had she ever failed and lost those comrades she was used to leaning on? Kimiko wasn't about to trust anyone easily, and she wasn't about to let anyone else get killed because of her own weakness. So she would endure the pain, endure the solitude; endure it all for the sake of all reality.

* * *

"Hello, teacher."

Matsuda jumped out of his skin at the sound of Kenta's monotone. That kid was damn sneaky, and his voice just sounded… unnatural.

"I'm not your teacher, Kenta."

The diminutive man fell into step beside Matsuda as they both strolled through the city plaza. "But I don't like your name, and I have to call you something."

"What's wrong with my name?" Matsuda sounded almost affronted.

"It means overwork friendship wait. It's messy. And your given name is the name of a car company."

"You might have a Japanese name, but I can tell you're not that bright with Kanji, are you? Matsuda Yukaro means waiting strains courage."

"That's still messy."

"Not at all, I always thought it meant that you need to keep moving forward, otherwise your courage to keep going might waver. That's why I won't stop moving forward."

"I see. And do you have a specific goal you move towards?"

"Of course I do. I wanna discover all kinds of planets and different stars, maybe even my own galaxy, maybe even find some aliens. Hell, I wouldn't mind being able to go among the stars. But for now, I'm gonna win this tournament!"

"Interesting. In any case, I sought you out for a reason. Do you have time?"

"I guess so, it's not like I'm actually doing anything. But I'm not giving you any lessons."

"Of course not," said Kenta, a slight frown forming. "The girl you have your eye on is in danger."

Matsuda's face twisted in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Miss Kimura, I think she's called. The danger seems very serious as well."

Matsuda's upper lip quivered once. "Che. If I tried to help her, she'd probably just throw it back in my face. She can get herself killed for all I care…"

Kenta frowned fully. _I definitely do not believe that, Matsuda Yukaro. From my observations, you are mostly honest, you hold nothing back and wear your emotions on your sleeve. You're far too easy to read to fool me. If anything in this world is true, it is that you undoubtedly care about Kimiko Kimura._

* * *

She'd been walking aimlessly for hours, and the sun was beginning to set. As darkness approached, she realised, absentmindedly, that the soles of her feet were beginning to hurt. Walking off the frustration hadn't worked, and honestly, she'd been hoping for some kind of confrontation to give her the chance to vent. She gave a dark chuckle at the thought of Yamato showing up right now, hell, even that Brock guy. She wouldn't lose any sleep if she accidentally beat him to death.

However, she decided she should probably make her way home before the pain in her feet became unbearable, and apparently her legs had had the same idea whilst running on autopilot, and she turned down the street that housed her apartment. Another minute of walking, and she stopped outside her building, narrowing her eyes.

It had been daylight when she left, so why were the lights on?

She came to the door and frowned. It was hanging open, the lock still attached to the frame. The grooves made it look like it had been shot open, but it was difficult to tell. She felt the wood. Warm. It had been shot open, then, and recently.

She pushed the door open softly, and ascended the stairs with as much caution as she could muster. The stairs were creaky, so she made sure to place her feet at the edge of each step, where it would make the least noise. When she reached the top landing, she turned and saw that the apartment was dark, apart from a sliver of light from the living room, to which the door was open just a crack. She tried swallowing the lump in her throat, to no avail. She could hear the sound of rummaging, probably through the drawers. Then she heard a crash, and guessed a drawer had been ripped from a chest.

That annoyed her. What had her furniture ever done to deserve that kind of treatment?

She pressed herself against the door, pushing it open slightly and peering through the crack. There was the swish of a ponytail as she caught a glimpse of a woman, dark of hair, tall and lithe, pacing beyond her line of sight towards the other side of the room. She then heard a tearing noise, and felt a pang of anger. That was her couch, dammit! Her sanctuary of comfort was being torn to pieces.

She took an acrylic sleeve from a hidden pocket inside her black hoodie, drawing the card from within. She knew what the intruder was looking for, and at least she knew they wouldn't find it. However, this place had become her home, and she wanted to burst in and confront the intruder. The problem with that, though, was that she knew said intruder to be armed, and probably dangerous. Therefore, no rash actions.

She could still hear tearing, so, ignoring the knot in her stomach, she pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Miranda looked up from her work, and gave no visible reaction other than to draw her gun with great speed and aim it at her.

Kimiko was on the move before the gun could train on her, running in a zig-zag pattern towards her enemy. Miranda fired, and missed. As Kimiko approached, she fired again, and managed to graze the shot across her cheek. Kimiko hissed, but as Miranda readied to pull the trigger again, she reached her and grabbed her gun arm, forcing it up above her head and kneeing her in the gut.

Wrenching on Miranda's wrist as she did so, she applied pressure to the area between her first and thumb knuckles, causing her to release her grip on the weapon before elbowing her in the back of the neck. Miranda didn't fall, however, and instead wrenched her arm from Kimiko's grip, correcting her stance in an instant and lashing out with a vicious straight right. Kimiko ducked underneath it, but was rewarded with Miranda's heel crashing into her cheek, sending her stumbling towards the middle of the room.

Before she had time to recover, Miranda hit her with a colossal side kick in the midsection which lifted her off her feet and sent her flying backwards. She went straight through the window, the sound of shattering glass raising a symphony to her fall.

The plunge could kill her, if she landed wrong. That was the thought running through her head as she crashed through the window, broken glass tearing her dark skirt and the leggings beneath to tatters.

She didn't want to die yet. The thought terrified her. If she died now, who the hell would be left to protect the key? Who would be left to protect this world, to protect their reality? She almost screamed at the thought, a deep pit opening up in her stomach. She could not die. She refused to die!

She tucked her chin into her chest, spreading her arms to the sides and bending her knees so her feet landed flat. The landing drove the breath out of her, but the act of spreading the impact may have saved her life, and nothing was broken. Probably.

She hissed as she hauled herself to her hands and knees, gravel from the pavement catching in the many tiny lacerations on her back. She coughed up a glob of blood, and her breath caught as she heard the click of high heels exiting her front door. She wasn't in any state to fight, and as it was, she was pretty much helpless against an armed opponent. She looked up into the barrel of a Sig-Sauer handgun as Miranda clicked the safety catch off.

"Tell me where the key is, or die," she said, venom lacing her tone.

Kimiko just burst out laughing. A full-bodied belly laugh that put her ribs in agony, but she couldn't help it. "Go ahead, kill me. Then you'll never find the thing."

Miranda's eyes narrowed to slits, and she growled. "We can always question that associate of yours."

"If I bite it, you'll never find her."

Miranda screamed in frustration and kicked Kimiko in the ribs, sending her skidding across the gravel to the other side of the road. "Then I'll just beat it out of you!" She began striding towards the downed girl, her eyes ablaze.

"Well, well, well," came another, decidedly male voice. "Just what exactly is going on here?" A diminutive boy with a mess of black hair framing his face stepped out from the shadows near Kimiko, smirking straight at Miranda.

"Nothing that concerns you, brat. Now get out of here."

"I'm afraid I can't," said Kenta. "I can't exactly abide by what you're doing here, you know."

"What are you doing?" said Kimiko, gasping for breath.

"Helping you. I would have thought that was obvious." He turned to face her.

"Why?"

"No real reason. I just quite like that Yukaro kid, and he cares a lot about you, despite what he says. He'd be pretty upset if you died, and besides, since you seem so intent on fighting your war alone, there's no-one left to stop your enemy if you die here, is there?"

Her face scrunched in an amalgamation of anger and sadness. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to admit it. This kid definitely knew more than he was letting on, but that didn't mean she wanted him involved any more than anyone else.

Before she could reply, Miranda shouted, "I said get out of here!"

She levelled her weapon on him, but Kenta proved to be a quicker draw and a card knocked it from her hand before she could even register what was happening.

He frowned, his eyes turning to stone. "There will be none of that. If you wish for conflict, we shall resolve it in a duel. If you win, I will give you the girl. If I win, you will run back to your employer with your tail between your legs and inform him that he will never succeed as long as I am here. The key does not belong to him."

"I'm not yours to give," growled Kimiko, strapping on her duel disk and activating it, "and I can fight my own battles. Step back."

Kenta sighed. "You can't even find your own feet right now."

Kimiko scowled. The kid obviously had some kind of strength, and she had already figured that he knew much more than he let on. That didn't exactly make him trustworthy, but he was right. She was in awful shape. "Who the hell are you?"

He offered her a hand and said, "I am Kenta Miyano, and you are Kimiko Kimura. A pleasure."

She took it, and they both stared down Miranda, who was glaring daggers at them. "Are you finished? Good. We will duel with Battle Royale rules."

"Just get on with it," said Kimiko.

"Duel!"

Miranda: 4000

Kenta: 4000

Kimiko: 4000

"I'll take the first turn," said Miranda. "First, I activate the spell card Foolish Burial, sending Shaddoll Beast from my deck to the graveyard."

A freshly dug grave appeared in front of her, a hand popping out and reaching for her deck, dragging a canine-like creature covered in metallic plates with a spiked tail and blue mane down to the depths. "And with the effect of my beast, when he is sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can draw one card." She drew and smirked before continuing.

"I now set one monster face-down, and activate another spell, Book of Revelations!" A set monster appeared, quickly followed by a pure white book with a holy cross on the front, an aura of light being exuded from it.

"I see where this is going, and I think we may be in deep shit," said Kenta.

Miranda's smirk grew. "You have no idea. Book of Revelations flips one monster on the field from face-down defense position to face-up attack position! Reveal yourself, Shaddoll Falco (Lv. 2, ATK: 600)!"

The book opened and the shining became almost unbearable, the set monster flipping to reveal a tiny, navy blue falcon, with blue gems on its wings and four purple strings attached to its body, like a puppet.

"With his flip effect, I may special summon a Shaddoll monster from my graveyard in face-down defense position, so Shaddoll Beast will return to the field!" The strings attached to Falco shot into Miranda's graveyard, withdrawing the spirit of Beast and setting it next to itself.

"And now," she said, holding up the card she just drew, "I activate Shaddoll Fusion! With this, I will fuse my Falco and Beast!" A shadowy version of the usual fusion vortex appeared, sucking the two monsters in.

"Avian shadow, become one with the armoured beast and reveal a new power! Come together as the corrupted priestess and envelop the world in shadow!" She clasped her hands together, her face set in a scowl that promised pain. "Fusion summon! Descend, level five! El Shaddoll Winda (Lv. 5, ATK: 2200)!"

The monster emerged, a girl in a black cape with a navy blue top and thigh-high boots. She held an ornate staff housing a blue gem, and rode on a blue wyvern-like creature with a golden muzzle and wicked looking fangs.

"Well, shit," said Kenta.

"With Winda on the field," said Miranda, "all players can only special summon monsters once per turn. I set one card and end my turn."

"My turn, then," said Kenta. "Draw!" He looked over his hand impassively for a second. "I will set one monster and two cards face-down, which will end my turn." A set monster and two reverse cards appeared before him.

"Don't fight if you won't be useful," growled Kimiko through clenched teeth. Her ribs and spine were on fire, but she was determined to power through it. "It's my turn, draw!"

"Trap, activate!" said Kenta, smirking. "How's this for useful? Treacherous Trap Hole allows me to destroy two monsters on the field when I have no trap cards in my graveyard, so I'll destroy my monster and El Shaddoll Winda!" The hole opened, strange creatures inside cheering as Kenta's set monster was swallowed. However, Winda stood strong, and Kenta frowned while Miranda smirked.

"El Shaddoll Winda can't be destroyed by your card effects, brat. If that's the best you can do, you may as well surrender now."

"About as useful as a condom machine in the Vatican," said Kimiko under her breath.

"Do you think I would destroy my own monster for no reason?" asked Kenta. "When my Agent of Deception – Pluto is destroyed by a card effect, he can inflict five hundred point of damage to an opponent, and then they discard a card from their hand. Naturally, I choose you, shadow bitch."

She discarded the final card in her hand, and her eyes narrowed to slits (Miranda: 4000 – 3500). "What did you just call me?"

"Shadow bitch," said Kenta, almost as casually as one would order a coffee. "You know, because you use Shaddolls, and you're a huge bitch."

"In case you had forgotten," said Kimiko, her voice low and cold, "it's my turn."

"Of course," said Kenta. "Please, do proceed to shove your foot three feet up this shadow bitch's ass."

"Didn't need you to tell me that. If I can only special summon once per turn, I'll have to make it count! I summon Constellar Pollux (Lv. 4, ATK: 1700) to the field!" The dual-wielding warrior appeared with a grunt. "With his effect, I can normal summon an extra Constellar this turn, so I'll bring out Sheratan (Lv. 3, ATK: 700)!" A figure clad entirely in white armour came to the field, curved horns like those of a ram jutting from its head. The monster wore a white cape with brown lining, and had a wickedly curved blade attached to its right hand.

"That's it?" said Miranda. "Pathetic."

"I'm. Not. Finished. Sheratan's effect allows me to add a Constellar from my deck to my hand, so I'll add Kaus." She showed the card before continuing. "Now I activate the spell, Star Changer! I can raise Sheratan's level to four!"

Three level stars appeared above Sheratan, a fourth quickly appearing. "Now, I'll overlay my level four Constellars Pollux and Sheratan!" The two monsters became flashes of light, shooting upwards into the galaxy that appeared.

"Guardian of light, rise to defend the ideals of all those who came before, become a lance to slay darkness! Xyz summon, rank four! Shine, Constellar Omega (Rk. 4, ATK: 2400)!"

From the galaxy descended a shining centaur, wearing white armour with gold accents. In his left hand was the crest of the Constellar made entirely of light, and blue wings came from the creature's back. Kenta whistled.

"Cool monster," he said. "Wouldn't Praesepe have been a better option?"

Kimiko gave an aggravated sigh. "What about her face-down?"

"Point, my apologies."

"Stick to your own deck and I might consider accepting it. Now, Omega will attack El Shaddoll Winda! Constellar Lance!" The crest Omega held suddenly began changing form, becoming a seven-foot lance of pure light which the monster flung at Winda. It erupted from the spellcaster's back, shattering her and her mount into a million pieces (Miranda: 3500 – 3300).

"Trap, activate!" she said, her trap card opening. "I chain my Shaddoll Shadow Spread to the effect of El Shaddoll Winda. With this, when an El Shaddoll fusion monster I control is destroyed, I may draw cards until I have cards in my hand equal to the number of special summoned monsters my opponent controls plus two!" She drew three cards.

"And when El Shaddoll Winda is destroyed, I may add a Shaddoll spell or trap from my graveyard to my hand, so I'll retrieve my Shaddoll Fusion!" She took the card from her graveyard and said, "now, end your turn so I can destroy you both."

"Ooh, so scary," said Kenta, a mocking smirk on his face.

Kimiko growled. "I set two cards and end my turn."

"Then I draw!" Miranda instantly placed the card she had drawn in her duel disk. "I activate Twin Twisters! I discard a card to destroy two spell or trap cards on the field, so both of Kimura's cards will be destroyed!" A pair of twisters built up from nothing, gaining momentum and tearing through Kimiko's set cards.

"Shit!" said Kimiko.

"Next I activate Shaddoll Fusion once more! And since you control a monster that was special summoned from the extra deck, I can use monsters from my deck as fusion material!"

"What?!" said Kenta. "Now that's just broken."

"I send Shaddolls Squamata and Dragon from my deck to the graveyard!" The shadowy vortex appeared once more, this time sucking in a metallic serpent and a blue dragon, both attached to purple strings. "Serpentine puppet, become one with the enslaved dragon to reveal a new power! Come together as the corrupted priestess and envelop the world in shadow!"

Kenta sighed. "Here we go again…"

Miranda clasped her hands together and just glared at Kenta. "Fusion summon, level five! Descend, El Shaddoll Winda!" A second copy of the monster, once the priestess of the Gusto, materialised from the fusion vortex and smiled evilly at Kenta.

"Now for the effects of my Dragon and Squamata! Dragon allows me to destroy a spell or trap card on the field, and Squamata lets me send a Shaddoll card from my deck to my graveyard! There is only one target for Dragon, and Squamata will take Hound from my deck!"

The blue dragon emerged from her graveyard, the ghostly figure flying over to Kenta's set card and tearing it to shreds with its teeth. Miranda took the card from her deck and put it in her graveyard and said, "Shaddoll Hound's effect lets me change the battle position of one monster on the field, so I'll switch Constellar Omega to defense mode!"

A canine with silver armour on its shoulders and neck with purple strings attached galloped through Omega, causing the centaur to grunt and drop to a knee, holding the crest of light in front of its face (DEF: 500).

"Next, I'll equip Winda with Shaddoll Shadow Spear!" Winda's staff was replaced by a naginata made entirely of swirling shadows. "With this, the equipped monster gains three hundred attack points, can inflict piercing battle damage and if my opponent controls a monster special summoned from the extra deck at the start of the battle phase, she can perform an extra attack (Winda ATK: 2200 – 2500)!"

"Seriously, shadow bitch," said Kenta, "where do you get these broken-ass cards?"

Miranda looked like a vein was about to burst from her forehead. "That's enough of your insolence, thank you." Her voice was strained, like she was struggling not to scream. "El Shaddoll Winda, annihilate Constellar Omega!" Winda leaped from her mount, covering the distance between Omega and herself in that one jump, plunging the shadow sword straight through the crest and Omega's armour, shattering the monster.

Tendrils of shadow flew at Kimiko too quickly for her to do everything, and four of them stabbed through her midsection. It was both cold and hot; terrifying and agonising. She couldn't help it. She screamed. The scream was so deep Kenta grimaced, and Kimiko dropped to her knees (Kimiko: 4000 – 2000).

"And now," said Miranda, a violent look in her eyes, "cleave that brat in two!" Winda jumped from the place Omega used to be, slashing straight through Kenta as she landed before returning to her mount. Unlike Kimiko, Kenta couldn't find it within himself to scream. He couldn't even breathe. He too dropped to his knees, all his focus and will directed to the herculean task of staying conscious (Kenta: 4000 – 1500).

"Ugh…" was all Kenta could manage to get out.

Miranda smirked. "Not such a joke, now, is it?"

Panting, Kenta dragged himself back to his feet, swaying and looking unsteady as he tried to regain his base. "It was never a joke to begin with, shadow bitch. Draw!" He looked over his cards and groaned. "I have to admit, that monster of yours is very effective, it would shut down most decks."

"So will you surrender?" Miranda now wore a satisfied smirk, and she subconsciously reached for the empty holster on her hip.

Kenta answered her smirk with his own and said, "not an option. Besides, I said most decks. As long as I can special summon just once, I'm still in this. By banishing The Agent of Creation – Venus from my hand, I can special summon Master Hyperion (Lv. 8, ATK: 2700)!" The huge monster formed around the fading spirit of a beautiful blonde woman, staring down Winda impassively. "Now for his effect. I can't get rid of Winda, so I'll settle for a little more damage and destroy that spear!" A miniature of the solar system appeared held between Hyperion's palms, the image of Pluto flashing as a torrent of fire erupted and burned the shadow weapon into nothingness (Winda ATK: 2500 – 2200).

"When Shaddoll Shadow Spear is sent to the graveyard by a card effect," said Miranda, "no player can special summon monsters until the end phase of the turn after this effect activates!"

"Aw, crap." Kenta palmed his face. "Sorry, ice queen."

Kimiko glared at him and growled again. "Enough with the nicknames and the screwing up."

"It's not like I'm doing it deliberately!" He held up his hands in protest. "She's not exactly a dueling monkey, you know!"

"Whatever. Just kill the monster."

He turned to face the duel and said, "Master Hyperion, attack El Shaddoll Winda!" The sun deity shot another blast of fire at Winda, this one scorching the monster herself and her mount into cinders. The fire washed over Miranda, making her grunt slightly (Miranda: 3300 – 2800).

"Thanks to Winda, I'll add Shaddoll Fusion back to my hand."

"That's all I've got. Turn end."

"Then it's my turn," said Kimiko, struggling to keep her feet. "Draw!" She looked over her hand, despondent. Her entire deck was based around special summoning, and without it, she couldn't play any of the combos it offered. "I normal summon Constellar Kaus," she said, and the bow-wielding centaur burst forth (Lv. 4, ATK: 1800). "Kaus attacks directly." The beast-warrior nocked an arrow and fired straight at Miranda.

"I activate my trap, Shaddoll Core! When this card is activated, I can special summon it as a monster to my side of the field!" Miranda's final card flipped open, an amalgam of several serpentine heads made of shadows emerging (Lv. 9, DEF: 1950). "Kaus will crash into it!"

The arrow was absorbed by the shadows, and launched back at Kimiko, making her take a step back as it buried itself in her shoulder before disappearing (Kimiko: 2000 – 1850). "I end my turn," she said, her scowl beginning to morph into a look of desperation. There really was no way out this time.

"My turn," said Miranda. "Draw! I activate Shaddoll Fusion, fusing the Shaddoll Pup in my hand with my Shaddoll Core!" The vortex of shadows appeared for the third time, sucking in the trap monster and a dark version of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter attached to the purple puppet strings. "And the wonderful thing about Shaddoll Core is that I can use it as a substitute for any attribute of monster when fusion summoning an El Shaddoll monster that lists that attribute as material!

"Puppet of the hunter, become one with the shadow core to reveal a new power! Merge to reveal your master of strings, and envelop this world in shadows!" She clasped her hands together, the vortex swirling. "Fusion summon, level 8! Descend now, great puppetmaster! El Shaddoll Construct (Lv. 8, ATK: 2800)!"

A giant appeared. It was blue, with two protrusions protecting its legs, its sleeves billowing around pure black hands. Bands of gold could be seen around its joints, and millions upon millions of purple strings came from its back. It had a pale white face framed by hair of the same colour, the rest of its hair like a blue mane. The look on that face was almost serene, and it towered over even Master Hyperion, too big for their improvised duel field, and so it looked even bigger as it rose into the air.

"Shaddoll Pup's effect activates! When sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can target one card on the field and destroy it!" The puppy burst forth and bit one of Kaus's ankles, causing the centaur to scream in pain and shatter. Kimiko blanched at this: one direct attack and it was over for her. "Next is the effect of the card I discarded for Twin Twisters! When I fusion summon an El Shaddoll monster whilst I have no other cards on my field or in my hand, I may equip it to the summoned monster: El Shaddoll Shadow Sword!" A huge shadow katana materialised in Construct's right hand, and it smiled.

"So what broken shit does this one do?" asked Kenta.

"I'm glad you asked," she said. "But why don't I show you? El Shaddoll Construct, attack Master Hyperion!" The giant sword descended, and Hyperion disintegrated on impact. "When Construct battles a special summoned monster, that monster is instantly destroyed. But the Shadow Sword, when an opponent's special summoned monster is destroyed, inflicts that monster's attack points to you as damage!"

"Well," said Kenta. "I'm boned."

* * *

What the hell was the kid talking about?

Matsuda had gone home, eaten, and been happily playing video games safe in the knowledge he now had three points in the tournament, and that no-one else had more than four yet. He had been content to just let the night pass as he shot some fools, but a cryptic message from his wannabe 'apprentice' had rather ruined that.

_Come quick. Your friend needs your help._

That had been followed by a street name, and though he had replied to ask which friend and what the hell was wrong, he had received no reply. So there he was, trudging through the cold night, muttering dark things under his breath about the troublesome kid whom he had randomly encountered, with no idea what he was walking into.

As he came to the corner of the street Kenta had told him to come to, a memory flashed in his head. It had been here that he had first witnessed evidence of the connection between Kimiko, the beautiful transfer student he had, for some reason, taken a liking to, and Lady Light, the hooded psycho who had nearly killed him. Well, he supposed that didn't make a difference to the current situation.

Until he turned the corner and saw a gargantuan monster slash across Kenta with a sword made entirely of shadows, eliciting an ear-splitting scream and dropping him to a prone position. What's more, Kimiko was alongside him, looking as if she were ready to collapse.

Well then.

* * *

Kenta tried to get back up, but all he could manage was a feeble twitching of his arm (Kenta: 1500 – 0).

"Miyano!" said Kimiko. "Are you alive?"

"Just about," he groaned.

Miranda chuckled. "Finally, he shuts up. Now for the second effect of my sword: once per turn, I can decrease the equipped monster's attack by a thousand until the end phase to allow it a second attack! Attack Kimiko Kimura directly!"

The sword passed through her like a hologram, but she certainly felt it. She felt it rend her organs, the burning sensation making it feel as if her blood had become magma, and her bones molten. She screamed and fell to a knee, leaning on it as she shook uncontrollably. She retched a couple of times before coughing up an unhealthy amount of blood (Kimiko: 1850 – 50).

"You alive there?" said Kenta, his voice straining.

"Worry about yourself," she growled. "I'm fine."

"You see this situation we're in?" he asked.

"You're not in it anymore."

"Look how powerful she is, and there are more of them."

"Stop going where you're going." She shook her head, and tears threatened to fall. She clenched her teeth as a knot of pure despair formed in her stomach. She couldn't; she just couldn't.

"You really think you can beat them all on your own?"

She wanted desperately to scream, to cry. Fire was invading her thoughts, and she had the urge to destroy something. A red mist began to descend, rage mixing with despair as she said, "I have to, so I will."

"That kind of thinking is pure arrogance."

She couldn't hold it in anymore. Everything she had bottled up since that day, all the rage she had channelled into her fight was like water behind a dam. She had controlled the floodgates a little to allow herself to keep her resolve, but Yukaro had shown up and begun to crack it. Only her determination had kept it intact, but at those words, that determination left her and the dam broke, everything bursting forth at once.

"I REFUSE TO BURY ANYONE ELSE!" she screamed at Kenta, anguish, mania and rage lacing her tone in equal measure. Tears began to fall freely down her face as she realised; she'd be the next one buried. She had failed.

"You won't have to."

She turned to see a smirking Matsuda striding forward, activating his duel disk.

_Intrusion Penalty: 2000 lifepoints._

Matsuda was given a small shock by his duel disk, and his face contorted in confusion and affront (Matsuda: 4000 – 2000). "What the f- that's what the update was for?! Screw you too, Leo corporation, you absolute sons of- ugh, not important." He stopped alongside Kimiko, crouching to come face-to face with her, placing a hand on her shoulders. "Keeping all that stuff inside, trying to shoulder the burden by yourself, it'll destroy you. Trust me, I know, I tried it once. I won't pretend like I know or understand whatever you've been through, but no-one can do everything alone. Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on, and I think I understand you better now. It's your own heart you've been trying to protect, right?"

She said nothing, instead just staring into his eyes.

"I have things I want to protect too, and given this monster's effect, I think we'd both be pretty screwed on our own here. So will you let me fight alongside you?"

She nodded, and he grinned. "I'm sorry," she said. "For everything."

"Save it," he said, standing and turning to face Miranda. "We have a duel to win. Hey Kenta, you wanted lessons? Let me show you how to kill an unkillable monster."

Miranda scowled. "You'll make no difference. With El Shaddoll Shadow Sword, my Construct cannot be targeted by card effects!"

Matsuda offered his hand to Kimiko, and she accepted, favouring him with a small smile as she rose and turned to Miranda. "He'll make all the difference in the world. I need a six."

He smirked. "Draw!" He looked at his hand and his smirk became a grin. "Look at that. I summon Cosmic HERO Motivator to the field (Lv. 4, ATK: 1500)" The blue-haired HERO came to the field wearing his signature grin, fingering his shades as he stared down Construct without any fear. "And with the effect of my Cosmic HERO Data Dog, since I control another Cosmic HERO monster, I can special summon it!" The tiny Welsh corgi appeared, nuzzling up to Motivator (Lv. 1, ATK: 100).

Kenta looked up and thought, _so it's that monster. Perfect._

"When using Data Dog to synchro summon a HERO monster, I can treat it as a level two monster, so I'll tune my level four Motivator with the level two Data Dog!" Data Dog became a pair of bright green stars, which morphed into the signature synchro rings, surrounding Motivator who jumped in without hesitation, becoming four stars before a flash of light merged the two together.

"Oh great diamond star, with your unwavering brightness, come to my aid and with magnitude unrivalled, burn your enemies to ashes! Synchro summon, level six! Shine, Cosmic HERO P Cygni (Lv.6, DEF: 2400)!" The diamond HERO emerged from the synchro summon, his radiance dazzling even Miranda and her El Shaddoll Construct.

Miranda said, "impressive though your monster may be, I fail to see what it can do to my Construct."

"Nothing," said Matsuda, as a blast of light came from one of the facets of P Cygni's head, dispersing the shadow sword completely. "That equip spell, on the other hand? When I summon P Cygni, I can destroy a card on the field and draw one!" He did so. "I'll set three cards and pass turn. Kimi, finish this."

"With pleasure," she said. "Draw!"

"I activate my trap!" said Matsuda. "Deep Space Turncoat! By paying a thousand lifepoints, I can target one monster on the field and change its controller, and I target P Cygni! Now, you belong to Kimi!" The monster flashed out of existence before reappearing in front of its new master.

Kimiko smiled a full, genuine smile. "I activate the spell card Fire Formation – Tenki! This allows me to add a beast-warrior from my deck to my hand, and increases the attack of all beast-warriors by a hundred! I'll add my second Constellar Kaus, and summon him!" The centaur burst onto the field.

"And with his effect, I'll change him to level six! Now, with my level six Constellar Kaus and Cosmic HERO P Cygni, I create the overlay network!" The two monsters became bright lights and disappeared into a huge galaxy.

"That animation never gets old," said Matsuda.

"Alive to the light, forever guarding the ideals of justice, reveal your power and become the eternal light of hope! Xyz summon, rank six! Constellar Ptolemy M7!" The white and gold mechanical dragon flew from the overlay network, its two units orbiting it. It gave a bellowing roar at El Shaddoll Construct, which looked amused (Rk. 6, ATK: 2700).

"Did you forget about my Construct's effect?" said Miranda, looking smug.

It was Kimiko's turn to smirk, however, in dissonance with her tear-stained face. "But what about M7's effect? By detaching an overlay unit, I can bounce your monster back to the extra deck!" The dragon absorbed an overlay unit, charging a blast of light and firing it at the puppet master.

"Then I activate the final effect of El Shaddoll Shadow Sword in my graveyard! When an El Shaddoll fusion monster I control is targeted by an opponent's special summoned monster's effect, I can negate that effect and destroy that monster!" The massive sword phased into existence, blocking the beam of light and slowly pushing it back.

"Trap, activate!" shouted Matsuda. "Irresistible Force! If a card effect would be negated, I can discard a card and cards belonging to that card's owner cannot be negated until the end phase!" He discarded, and an invisible force pulled the shadow sword into a million different wispy pieces, which soon vanished. The beam of light shot by Ptolemy continued unimpeded, forcing Construct back, and the huge monster shrank as its spirit was pulled back into Miranda's extra deck.

"Even if you've removed my monster, I still have more lifepoints than your monster's attack points!"

Kimiko's smirk grew. "Are you sure?"

"Trap card, open!" Matsuda's final reverse card flipped open. "Cosmic Power Merger! By banishing one Cosmic HERO tuner monster from my graveyard, I can increase the attack points of one light monster on the field by the banished monster's attack points!" Data Dog appeared in a ghostly form, running to the machine dragon and jumping into its mouth (Ptolemy M7 ATK: 2700 – 2800).

Miranda's face contorted, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "You interfering little-"

"Constellar Ptolemy M7, finish this!" The dragon roared, and released an even bigger beam of light from its mouth straight at Miranda. It hit the woman, searing her skin and sending her flying several feet backwards (Miranda: 2800 – 0).

The holograms all disappeared, and Matsuda raised an eyebrow at Kimiko. "Hard light?"

She gave a guilty smile and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. I suppose you could say that me, everyone else, we're not exactly from around here."

"So where?"

The guilty smile just became a look of guilt, and she said, "I'm sorry, but I've been stabbed in the back before. I'll tell you what you need to know, but for now, can you be content letting me learn to trust you?"

He smiled warmly at her, and offered his hand for her to shake. "I'll earn it, like people should have to. Though I should think this helped."

She laughed, took his hand and said, "you have no idea how much further you've gotten than other people. If you really want me to trust you, I need you to do one thing."

"What is it?"

"Let me protect you."

He grinned. "Sure thing. As long as you let me protect you in return."

"Deal." They concluded their handshake, and looked over to where their defeated opponent had been flung.

But she was gone.

* * *

AN: It's not dead! I am so, so sorry this took so long, it's been like, a year. I promise you this won't happen again, I plan to finish this story and do it in a somewhat timely fashion. Anyway, this pretty much wraps up the first act of the story. Kimiko finally defrosted a little bit, and we got a mushy little friendship scene at the end because FRIENDSHIP! And what was that you people were saying about Kenta? You should know by now that if I make something seem obvious, it's probably not what you're thinking. Also, I know I'm probably wrong about the kanji, I just don't care. I also know Shaddoll Core would trigger a replay: I also don't care, rule of drama, people! Anyway, if you have something to say, drop a review and I'll reply. I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month, so you'll be lucky to get an update before December, but hey, you might. Oh, and big up to ThatLoneAvenger for beta'ing for me! This chapter would be worse without his input, that's for damn sure. Stay frosty, folks.

Shaddoll Pup  
DARK/Spellcaster/Effect  
ATK: 200 DEF: 100  
FLIP: You can send 1 'Shaddoll' card from your hand to the graveyard, and if you do, draw 1 card.  
If this card is sent to the graveyard by a card effect: you can destroy 1 card on the field. You can only use one 'Shaddoll Pup' effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Book of Revelations  
Quick-play Spell  
Target 1 monster in face-down DEF position: switch it to face-up ATK position.

Shaddoll Shadow Spear  
Equip Spell  
You can equip this card only to a 'Shaddoll' Monster. The equipped monster gains 300 ATK and if it attacks a monster in DEF position with DEF lower than that card's ATK: inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. If, at the start of the battle phase, your opponent controls a monster special summoned from the extra deck: the equipped monster can perform a second attack during that battle phase. If this card is sent to the graveyard by a card effect: neither player can special summon monsters until the second end phase after this effect's activation.

El Shaddoll Shadow Sword  
Equip Spell  
Cannot be activated from your hand. Can only be activated if this card is in your graveyard when you fusion summon an 'El Shaddoll' fusion monster while you have no other cards on your field or in your hand. When activated, equip to the fusion summoned monster. The equipped monster cannot be target by card effects. When an opponent's special summoned monster is destroyed: inflict that monster's ATK to your opponent as damage, and if you do, once per turn, you can reduce the equipped monster's ATK by 1000 until the end phase; that monster can attack again during the battle phase. When this card is in your graveyard, if your opponent's special summoned monster activates an effect which targets a 'Shaddoll' monster you control: you can banish this card; negate the effect and destroy that monster.

Shaddoll Shadow Spread  
Normal Trap  
When a 'Shaddoll' monster you control is destroyed and sent to the graveyard: draw cards equal to the number of special summoned monsters your opponent controls, plus 2.

Deep Space Turncoat  
Normal Trap  
Pay 1000 lifepoints and target 1 monster on the field; that monster switches controllers

Irresistible Force  
Counter Trap  
When an effect is activated that would negate the effect of a card on the field: discard a card; the effect is not negated, and the owner of that that card cannot have effects negated until the end phase.

Cosmic Power Merger  
Normal Trap  
Banish one 'Cosmic HERO' tuner monster from your graveyard and target one LIGHT monster on the field; the targeted monster gains the ATK of the banished monster, until the end phase.


	9. Revival!

"Che… why the hell do we have to take this useless lump back home?" Kimiko wore a scowl, illuminated by the moon shining down on Nishihama. Her every breath came through gritted teeth, and she cradled her ribs tenderly, the pain still spiking through her body.

Matsuda's face dropped, his own body tiring quickly with the small but surprisingly heavy body burdening him. "Kimiko, you were the one worrying in the first place…"

She stopped in her tracks, turning to him with her expression thunder. "When did I give you permission to call me by my first name?"

He sweat-dropped. "Now that I think about it, your personality seems even worse now that you've accepted me as an ally. Kimiko."

She looked like she was about to punch him out, but was stopped by a growl coming from Matsuda's back as Kenta said, "could you two save the sexual tension for later, please? I am in rather great pain, you stupid dicks!"

"She's the only stupid dick here," said Matsuda. "Right, _Kimiko_?"

Kimiko just ignored him and said, "mention sexual tension again, and you will be in a great deal more pain."

"Can't be any worse than being stuck between the two of you."

"Huh?!" Her face contorted, and she advanced towards Matsuda menacingly. "You wanna test that out?"

"Sure thing. Can't-" he was cut off by Matsuda's hand covering his mouth.

"People are heavy," he said. "Can we get there before we tear each other to pieces, please?"

Kimiko harrumphed, turning away with her arms crossed. "I don't really care anyway."

_Tsundere…_ thought the two boys.

"We're here anyway," said Kenta, pointing to a three-storey, red-brick apartment building to their right.

Matsuda said nothing, and just strode towards it.

**Revival! The Burning Abyss of the soul!**

Kenta lay on his couch, his small frame taking up all the space, leaving Kimiko on the chair and Matsuda across the table, crouched on the balls of his feet. The room was lit well and the curtains were drawn, Kenta groaning and covering his eyes to shield them.

"Alright," said Matsuda, "so what are the things I need to know?"

"Why must you do this here?" groaned Kenta.

Kimiko gave an aggravated sigh. "They know where I live."

Matsuda chuckled. "My mom would go crazy if I brought a girl home at this hour. Seriously, when she gets mad she's Kimiko-level scary."

She glared straight into his eyes, eliciting a shudder. "What did I say about my first name?"

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "You never had a problem with it before!"

"That was then. This is now."

"Dammit, I can't understand you. Be less complicated!"

"A person can't change their personality on command, moron. Besides, it's probably just 'cause you're slow."

"Screw you, ice queen!"

"Only in your dreams, virgin."

Kenta palmed his face and said, "can you two maybe put aside that obvious attraction for two minutes? We have more important things to discuss at the moment, if you recall."

Kimiko growled and clenched her fist, her nails leaving grooves in her palm, whilst Matsuda just shook his head. Kimiko said, "I'll forget that because you're injured, but a day will come I decide to punish you for your wise-ass comments, be aware of that."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda," said Kenta. "Please answer his question so I can go to bed."

"Fine," she said. "Truth is, as far as their goals are concerned, I don't actually know that much. What I do know is that they sparked a war back where we came from, so as to elicit chaos and unpredictability. Apparently, that was all an ulterior motive to summon two things to our world: the Chaos Altar, and the Key of Reality."

As she finished her sentence, Kenta's phone rang. He looked at the screen and paled. "You guys should probably shut up," he said. "I'm supposed to be working in secret, if my employer finds out I blew my cover he'll chop off my limbs and use me as a doormat."

Matsuda just nodded. Kimiko grinned maniacally and said, "I think you'd make a great doormat. Or maybe a scratching post for a cat."

Kenta ignored her and answered the call. "Yes, sir? Right... Uh-huh... Quick question: are you omniscient or something? Got it. Okay... Um, why? You sure that's a good idea? To be honest, I think she'd rather murder me, stuff me and sell me off as a novelty scratching post... Understood... Bye." He turned to face his two guests, who looked so confused he thought they should have visible question marks above their heads. "So apparently this was the optimal outcome and I'm supposed to work with the two of you."

"Four. Four of us," said Matsuda.

Kimiko frowned and said, "the Ikeda girl I can understand, but really? That gorilla? He made it so obvious you were following me it was painful. The girl was quite ingenious, actually. He's just an idiot."

Matsuda looked affronted as he said, "hey, he might be an idiot, but he's a useful idiot. He's strong, too, and besides, how many of them are there? It'd be best if we can match them man-for-man."

"What kind of idiot are you? It'd be much better if we could outnumber them."

"Are you even capable of being nice?"

"Not when you're being stupid. Anyway, aside from the three you've met so far, there are another three: I've met one, but I've never seen their leader and I didn't even know there was another one until Yamato told me. He's a prick and I don't believe a word he says, but it's probably better to assume he was telling the truth to be on the safe side. Aside from them, there's just a bunch of mooks who do most of the dirty work, so never mind outnumbering them or matching them, we're outnumbered ourselves."

"If that guy's so untrustworthy, maybe there are even more," said Kenta.

"I doubt it," she said. "He's too arrogant to think such a thing is necessary."

"Speaking of, what the hell happened to Shadow Bitch?"

"I assume she teleported off. No point speculating about that right now, we'll get nowhere."

"Well then," said Matsuda. "The Altar and the Key?"

Before Kimiko could open her mouth, Kenta said, "I can answer that one, actually. The Chaos Altar, as its name suggests, is born of chaos. It is only thing capable of harnessing the power of the Key of Reality. The Key itself is, weirdly enough, a card. Don't ask why; it just seems as if our reality runs on the power of a smash-hit card game."

"Why do you make it sound so implausible?" asked Matsuda. "It's a worldwide phenomenon that makes hundreds of millions of yen a year in this country alone."

"Basically, it's money," said Kimiko, sneering. "Money runs the world."

Kenta sighed and said, "Basically. I really can't be bothered explaining the difference between a social driving force and a universal driving force right now. Anyway, the Key and the Altar always appear separately from each other. As the universe basically runs on chaos, or entropy, those things are usually located at the centre, the place from where all entropy flows. The engine room of the universe, as it were. Without it, everything would be in equilibrium and there would be no such thing as a chemical reaction, and therefore, no such thing as a universe."

"That…" said Matsuda, "is ridiculously complicated."

"I dumbed it down significantly," said Kenta. "Kimura's right, you are slow. Give it five days, you'll get it."

Matsuda slumped. "What the hell happened to your personality?"

"My employer told me to be slightly creepy and have a cardboard personality, but it was bothersome and I blew it by helping Kimura. If I'd kept it up in front of you, she'd have just pointed it out."

Matsuda rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Ever heard of wilful ignorance? Anyway, what do the Altar and the Key actually do?"

"No idea," said Kimiko.

"Not allowed to tell," said Kenta, "on pain of being donated to a zoo as tiger food."

Matsuda yawned. "Crap, school tomorrow, and you're giving me a headache. I should get home or mom will be donating _me_ to a zoo." He stood up, walking towards the door before turning back and saying, "what about you, Kimiko? You can't go home, right?"

"She can stay here," said Kenta. "I'm confident they can't find out where I live, I've been careful to scrub all the records, and I bribed the landlord. Also, since I had the foresight to register myself as an adult, I don't have to go to school, meaning I don't have a predictable routine."

Matsuda gave a questioning glance to Kimiko, and she just shrugged. "Beats a park bench, even if I do have to put up with this bastard's smart mouth."

Matsuda bade them goodbye and left the room, but as he opened the front door he couldn't help but sigh as he heard Kenta say, "I know you'd probably rather stay with Yukaro, but think of how much you'd inconvenience his mother with all the rowdy sex!"

He opted to simply ignore the boy's screams as he descended the stairs, hoping to get his hands on some painkillers before he went to bed.

* * *

"Check the results, dammit!" roared Daitaro as he, along with Kaneko and Matsuda, exited the school gates. "I can't hold it in any longer, I have to knoooow!" It was almost as if he were engulfed by a blazing red aura, the imaginary heat somehow managing to make both Kaneko and Matsuda uncomfortable. In fact, the bare Sakura trees flanking the pathway out of the school seemed to shy away from it, a wind inexplicably picking up and blowing aside all the fallen leaves.

"Dude," said Matsuda. "Calm the hell down. Your blood's so hot I can feel it over here."

"But I can't stand it!" Daitaro pumped a fist into the air. "We have to stay cooped up in school while everyone else can get a leg up in the tournament!"

"You know adults have jobs, right?"

"The highest points total is four, which is two people. About twenty people, including us, have three. Eighty-six have two, and that's the lowest total." Kaneko put her phone away, closing its internet browser.

Daitaro's expression was comically flabbergasted as he said, "whoa, that many people have been eliminated already! Damn, it must just be the strong ones left now!"

"Obviously not," said Matsuda, smirking. "You've not been eliminated yet."

Daitaro roared again, towering above Matsuda with his hot-blooded aura expanding its reach so far that various other students were beginning to take notice, some beginning to run through the matte black gates, which were set into a similarly constructed fence. "Alright, I've had it! That is the last time you make fun of my mad skills. I challenge you, and this time, no running! We'll have a true match between men, the hearts of our souls blazing with the passion born of the swords within, and clash! Placing everything on the line to end it in one blow, we'll settle this in true samurai fashion!"

Matsuda looked at him with a completely straight face and said, "you've been binging Gintama again, haven't you?"

Daitaro, with mock affront, pointed straight at Matsuda's face. "And so what if I have! Gintoki is a brilliantly dynamic character and it's the best series in Jump, goddammit!"

"It's okay to like something. It's not okay to let a freaking manga take over your life."

Daitaro put his face mere inches from Matsuda's and said, "and what's your favourite, huh?"

"S-Shokugeki no Souma."

"Aha!" Daitaro put his finger to his forehead and grinned. "Your perversion is revealed. You just like seeing all the naked girl foodgasms, don't you!"

"Well, I can't deny that I'd rather look at them than your ugly mug."

Kaneko giggled, prompting Daitaro to turn to her and shout, "and what are you laughing at? You're just a yaoi fangirl!"

She pressed her lips into a thin line and said, "you can't prove anything. But I can prove that you love childish gag manga."

"It gets serious too, dammit! But not as serious as Matsuda's ecchi Erina fantasies!"

"I do not have ecchi Erina fantasies!"

"Then why did I hear you say 'ooh, Erina-sama, please step on me' in your sleep back when you were concussed?"

Matsuda's face turned into a beet as he screamed, "that's a lie!"

Kaneko smirked. "No it isn't."

"Shut up, yaoi girl!"

"As entertaining as hearing that prick's deranged sexual desires is, you losers having a manga argument is insulting my ears." The obnoxious, slightly accented voice cut through their argument like Matsuda's scissors through the pages of Gintama in Daitaro's Jump.

The trio turned back to the school gates to see that barely any students remained, but two rather large ones stood in the foreground leering at them as if they were lions who had found a lame gazelle. Brock Johnson's nose was disjointed, but had clearly healed; Hiro Mori stood at his side, holding up his duel disk threateningly.

All three's high spirits suddenly sank back down to earth, their faces simultaneously setting into grim lines, Kaneko beginning to shake slightly. "Brock," said Matsuda levelly. "It's been a while. I was hoping it'd be longer."

Brock gave a cruel grin and said, "aw, don't be like that, ol' buddy, ol' pal! I know you guys are happy to see me." He locked eyes with Kaneko, and his grin suddenly threatened to split his face. "Look, Kitty, you're even shaking with excitement." Kaneko's only response was to shudder harder as Daitaro stepped in front of Brock's gaze, glaring at the American with eyes of stone.

"Don't even talk to her," he said. "Want me to kick your ass?"

Brock held up both hands in a placating gesture and said, "hey, I'm not here to start a fight. It's just… you guys are in the tournament, right? I've gotten stronger, you see, and I can't help but want to put a certain few assholes in their place. I wanted to start with Titty-girl, but since you're right in front of me, I'll start with you. So, who's first?"

"I'll be your opponent, then," said Matsuda. "Both of you."

Brock scoffed and began chuckling. "What good will that do except make it harder for you? You'd get the same amount of points for winning, and there's more chance you'd lose. How stupid are you?"

Matsuda smirked. "But for a battle royal, there can only be one winner, so one of you would be eliminated no matter what."

Hiro returned the smirk as he finally spoke for the first time. "All we'd need to do in that case is tag, right?"

Daitaro took a place beside Matsuda and grinned. "Then why don't we make it a proper tag duel? Sorry buddy, but I can't let you hog all the fun, y'know?"

Before Matsuda could respond, a decidedly feminine voice rang out from behind the bully duo. "So you were here?"

"That voice…" said Matsuda.

"Getting pretty sick of having my conversations interrupted," grumbled Daitaro.

Brock half-turned and bared his teeth. "You came."

"Of course," said Kimiko, striding past him and Hiro, coming to a stop beside Matsuda as she turned to face them. "I must say, leaving a note saying 'duel me after school, bitch' in my locker is not only rude, but incredibly confusing. I didn't have a clue where to find you, so I just decided to wait here." She flashed him a terrible smile. "You must be a huge masochist, to challenge me like that."

"Ha!" said Brock, punching his own palm. "Still think you're all that, huh? I'm happy to deal with you, but I'm afraid you'll have to join the queue. I'm a popular man, you see."

Kimiko turned her head, favouring Matsuda and Daitaro with a level, expectant gaze. Matsuda just met it, his own eyes burning, but Daitaro quickly averted his eyes and seemed to wither, slowly stepping backwards to take a place beside his sister. "I'm out."

Kimiko smirked at him and said, "come on, are you really that scared of me? I'm not a monster, y'know?" He said nothing, so she turned back to Brock and Hiro and said, "I believe I heard something about a tag duel?"

Matsuda said, "I could probably take these guys by myself, like I did last time, so having you here is probably a little bit of overkill."

She smirked and said, "we were both challenged, and are you willing to back out?"

"Hell no," he said, switching on his duel disk. "But this time, don't get yourself into a situation where you need me to save your ass."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from the guy who needed saving from these morons last time he dueled them."

"This time?" said Daitaro.

"I have zero clue," replied Kaneko.

"Something tells me we missed out on serious plot advancement."

"This isn't a manga, Daitaro!" called Matsuda. "We'll tell you guys later."

"Hold on, we?!"

"For the love of god, can't you see I'm trying to have an argument here!"

Kimiko giggled. "Idiots are funny."

"You should never have started defrosting." Matsuda palmed his face.

She smirked cruelly and said, "you're right, you'd probably prefer it if I was kicking and spitting on you, right? Though you'd prefer it be Erina, I guess."

He spluttered, his face taking on the colour the Sakura trees would have were it spring. "How long were you stood there?!"

She shrugged. "I was waiting for the monkeys."

"Then how didn't you see them go past you?"

"My eyes were blurred with the tears of laughter from hearing that little gem."

"Stop making a mockery of me!"

"But you make it so easy," she stuck her tongue out at him, as Kaneko and Daitaro's jaws almost hit the stone paving.

"Her personality…" said Daitaro.

"Has done a complete one-eighty." Kaneko pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose so absentmindedly she pushed them off.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU TWO?!" they both roared.

"Enough!" said Brock, clearly at his wits' end. "Save the sexual tension for later, it's time to duel!"

"The fuck did you just say?" said Kimiko, venom lacing her tone, an aura of killing intent seeming to surround her to such an extent that Matsuda actually shied away.

"Let's just get on with beating you," Brock said, ignoring her. "We'll play a shared tag: we share life points, the field and the graveyard with our partners, and we can know their hands. Sound good?"

"Perfect," said Matsuda.

Kimiko still looked seething, and just activated her duel disk.

"Duel!"

Brock &amp; Hiro: 4000

Matsuda &amp; Kimiko: 4000

"I'm going first," said Hiro. "And we're gonna wipe the floor with you shitstains! First off, because I control no spell or trap cards, I can special summon Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (Lv. 3, DEF: 2100) from my hand!" A holographic projection of the card appeared in front of him, from which emerged the blue demon. "And I'm not done there, because I'll now normal summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (Lv. 3, ATK: 800)!" The winged demon came out from its projected card, spreading its wings and roaring.

"New deck," said Matsuda, his tone full of indifference.

"Don't worry," said Kimiko. "Morons are still morons."

"I wasn't worrying."

"Shut up!" screeched Hiro. "I tune my level three Scarm with the level three Rubic!" Rubic turned into three green rings, which engulfed Scarm, who first became three shining level stars before transforming into a pillar of light. "With these two Malebranche as offering, I beseech thee to play thy melody of the underworld! Synchro summon! Come forth, level six! Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss (Lv. 6, ATK: 2500)!" When the light receded, there was a man in a strange feathered hat in its place, holding a very demonic looking guitar.

"What are you doing?!" said Brock, obviously exasperated. "That's obviously the wrong monster to summon on the first turn!"

"Hey, shut up!" said Hiro. "I can duel how I want."

"If we lose, I'm blaming you."

"Blame yourself, you oversized lump of nothing."

"Who has sexual tension?" sneered Kimiko.

"Oi, Kaneko," called Matsuda. "I think we've found you a real life yaoi pairing!"

The girl in question pushed up her glasses and said, "please, do give miss Erina my regards when you next go to sleep."

Steam began escaping from his ears as Kimiko chuckled. "You walked right into that one."

He deflated and said, "why does it feel like I've suddenly become the butt monkey?"

"It's because your girlfriend's here!" said Daitaro.

Kimiko affixed him with an icy glare. "Would you like me to remind you just why you're so scared of me?"

"Meep."

Hiro was trembling, his face red and his free hand clenching and unclenching into a fist and back quickly enough to produce smoke. "I'll fucking kill you for that, you bastards… I set a card and end my turn." A reverse card came into existence at his feet. "During the end phase, since Scarm was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can add level three dark fiend-type monster from my deck to my hand! I'll choose my Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" He took the card from his deck and showed it, to which Kimiko set her face to an impassive line.

"My turn, then. Draw!" She took the top card from her deck, instantly placing it on her duel disk. "Because you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon my Constellar Siat (Lv.1, DEF: 1600)." The rugby-ball headed monster popped onto the field. "Next, I activate my spell card, Constellation Mapping! This turn, if I could only gain a Constellar monster effect once per turn, that restriction is removed!" What looked like a star map appeared in the air above the duel field, white lines connecting all the stars that made the constellations represented by each Constellar monster.

"With Constellars, this could be interesting…" said Kaneko.

"What do you mean?" asked Daitaro.

"There are several Constellar monsters that, on the turn they're normal summoned, allow the user an extra normal summon. However, that effect can only be gained once per turn. By taking away that drawback, she's allowed herself more flexibility, and the ability to swarm her field more than usual."

"That's too broken!" shouted Brock. "Where the hell did you even get that card?"

"Surely it has some sort of weakness?" said Hiro, paling somewhat.

"How perceptive," said Kimiko. "Of course, I can only use the effect once per turn for each monster. With that, I'll normal summon Constellar Pollux (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600)! And with his effect, I can normal summon once more, so I'll bring out Leonis (Lv. 3, ATK: 1000). And thanks to my spell, I can now gain his effect this turn too, meaning I can also normal summon Constellar Sheratan (Lv. 3, ATK: 700)!" All three monsters assembled in a line beside Siat.

"Swarming the field," said Daitaro, "with normal summons?"

"It's actually very clever," said Kaneko. "Most Constellar monsters only get their effects when they're normal summoned."

"As does Sheratan," said Kimiko. "I can add a Constellar monster from my deck to my hand, so I'll add Kaus." She took the card from her deck, showing it to her opponents before continuing. "Alright, let's get serious. First, I overlay my level 3 Constellars Leonis and Sheratan." The two monsters became balls of light, shooting up into the galaxy opening up in the sky.

"With your dazzling backdrop, disrupt the strength of your enemies and rain justice down upon them! Shine, rank three! Constellar Hyades (Rk. 3, ATK: 1900)!" With a flash, the beast-warrior descended brandishing his white sword.

Brock laughed. "And what do you intend to do with that puny little thing? Virgil has twenty-five hundred attack points, or did you forget about that?"

Kimiko smirked and said, "who said I was finished? I still have two monsters left to play with, y'know. I activate the effect of Constellar Siat, targeting Pollux so Siat can match its level!" A single white star appeared above Siat, suddenly multiplying into four. "I'll now overlay my level four Constellars Pollux and Siat! Open the magma gates, emerging from your slumber deep in the earth's mantle, burn everything to ashes! Xyz summon! Come forth, rank four, Lavalval Chain (Rk 4, ATK: 1800)!" A fiery creature erupted from the shining galaxy of the overlay network.

"Uh, that ain't a Constellar…' said Daitaro.

"No," said Kaneko. "But it's a useful card nonetheless."

"Since we share a field," said Kimiko, "and a player's deck zone is on their field, wouldn't that mean that any effects applied to my deck can be applied to my partner's, too?"

"That… makes a lot of sense," said Matsuda. "But why?"

She said nothing, opting to just smile at him instead. The smile unnerved him; it wasn't a happy smile nor one of simple mischief, rather a smile that promised pain. In that moment, he was exceedingly glad that she was on his side.

"Hold on!" said Brock. "I'm checking this, there's no way that's allowed!" He clicked on his duel disk's display a few times, before scowling. "'Players do not share deck zones.'"

"He's lying," said Kaneko. "Nothing is said about it, so you can assume it's legal."

"Show me your hand, Yukaro," said Kimiko, and he did so. "Much obliged. I activate the effect of Lavalval Chain! I detach one overlay unit to send one card from my deck to the graveyard." The monster absorbed one of its orbital lights, and prepared a torrent of flame. "I choose to send Cosmic HERO Motivator from Yukaro's deck to the graveyard!" The flame was blasted at Matsuda's deck, and he withdrew the card before inserting it into his grave.

"When Motivator is sent to the graveyard, I can draw one card!" said Matsuda. "Draw! But, Kimiko, I don't ever remember you seeing this card."

She waved her hand and said, "I dueled Yamato using your deck, remember?"

He did remember, but he wasn't convinced. He felt his curiosity flare up once again, remembering never having that card in his hand during the duel with Yamato. In fact, when he had looked through his deck afterwards, it had been close to the bottom. This was important, he was convinced of it. Then he remembered something else; another discrepancy that stoked the fire of his curiosity even further.

He had been concussed, and though it was a delirious and hazy memory, he was still sure of it: Daitaro had mentioned that on the day he had collapsed in the hallway, Kimiko had been the one to inform the teacher of his reason for absence. And she had named him. At that time, he had never told her his name. At that moment, he realised that she had been using his name long before he ever remembered her finding it out. It seemed so insignificant that he had paid it no mind, but now his mind was racing.

Lady Light must have told her about him, but why? She had straight up told him that she was keeping things from him, but how far did that go? He had said he would earn her trust, but shouldn't that work both ways? Sure, he felt that he could take her at her word, but perhaps he had been too naïve. Besides, he now knew that he didn't want to wait for her to just tell him everything; he was going to find out for himself if he could, because above all else, he hated not knowing.

He was snapped out of his reverie by Hiro saying, "that didn't help you one bit! You still have nothing that can take on my Virgil, despite the fact you just cheated!"

Daitaro growled from behind them and said, "the duel disk system accepted it, so shut your hole and get dueling, asswipe!"

"Also," said Kimiko, narrowing her eyes, "did I say I was done? I activate Hyades' effect! I remove an overlay unit to switch all of my opponent's monsters to defence mode!" Hyades raised its sword and plunged it into the ground, opening up a crack which tripped Virgil to a knee, hiding behind his guitar (DEF: 1000). "Now, battle! Lavalval Chain attacks Virgil. Magma Chain." The monster formed a chain from its fiery body, launching it towards the rock star and burning him to cinders. "Now, with your field wide open, Constellar Hyades attacks directly."

The beast-warrior readied its sword to charge, but Hiro had other ideas. "Trap, activate! The Traveller and the Burning Abyss! With this, I can summon as many Burning Abyss monsters as were destroyed this turn in defence mode! Come back, Virgil!" A fiery red gate appeared on the field, opening to reveal a portal full of flames which spat out the defensive form of Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss (DEF: 1000).

"The attack continues," said Kimiko. Her brows slanted as Hyades cut Virgil into pieces. "I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Well, that certainly reeks of overextension!" Brock gave a predatory grin. "Say, I've got a proposal for you guys."

"I think she prefers guys who don't reek of steroids," said Matsuda, his mouth twitching downwards. "Find someone else."

Brock gave a sardonic chuckle and said, "always the comedian, and you wonder why people wanna kick your ass? Not that kind of proposal, jerkwad. But I'll start with what happens if you win: we leave you all alone for the rest of your lives. Pretty good deal, right?"

"I've heard more convincing promises from my vacuum cleaner," said Kimiko.

Brock's face became livid and he said, "cut the freakin' sarcasm and listen already! Just who the hell do you think I am?"

"A gorilla?" said Kimiko.

"Not-so-mighty leader of team Dick-Gurren?" said Matsuda.

Daitaro and Kaneko both broke down in laughter, as both Hiro and Brock looked ready to explode in a shower of icky bits. "Snark while you can. If I win, I want that card you always seem to be obsessing over, Kimura!"

Kimiko's light smile became a nervous scowl and she said, "how the hell do you know about that?"

"What's he talking about?" said Matsuda, but he was ignored.

"You're always pulling it out and looking at it," said Brock, a predatory grin now adorning his face. "I'm willing to bet it's really important, right?"

"What do you know of its significance?" Kimiko snapped, and Matsuda put two and two together.

"That's a 'hell no' from us, Brock," said Matsuda.

"The hell's he even talking about?" asked Daitaro.

"Obviously it's something important," said Kaneko. "And if so, have patience, he did say they would explain everything to us once they were finished."

"But I wanna know!"

"And, as you feel the need to constantly point out, you're the older one…"

Brock's grin grew wider and he turned to show his back, lifting up the tail of his blazer, the item he showed making the eyes of everyone present bug out of their heads. "By the way, you don't have a choice."

"Is that real?" whispered Kaneko.

Daitaro began shaking. "You utter bastard…"

"How the hell did you manage to carry that around in school?" said Matsuda.

"That doesn't matter," said Brock.

"Looks like you gotta agree," said Hiro, joining Brock in grinning. "We know you always carry it with you, so we expect it when we win; otherwise, it's lights out!"

"Who the hell threatens to kill someone over a card?!" roared Daitaro.

"Some third-rate duelists operating on someone else's orders," said Kimiko. "Who're you morons working for?"

"Not telling!" said Brock.

Kimiko growled. "Fine, I'll accept. But if you don't keep your word and leave everyone present alone for the remainder of time," she stared straight into his eyes, her own cold and hard as tempered steel, "I'll take that gun from you and kill you slowly."

Everyone went silent. Her words and her tone left no room for disbelief, and Matsuda felt a chill creep up his spine. She wouldn't even hesitate, would she?

After a few seconds, Brock began laughing. It was a high, piercing laugh, full of arrogance and hubris. He turned back around, dropping his coat-tail and hiding the boxy black weapon from sight once more. "You really think you'll win? Let me show you how dumb that is. Draw!" He drew his card, and his grin threatened to relocate his ears to the back of his head. "I activate the Terminus of the Burning Abyss!"

A rainbow of light shone down, illuminating the figure of a white-robed woman with long white hair. "With this, I can fuse together monsters in my hand to fusion summon a Burning Abyss monster! I fuse my Farfa, Graff and Libic!" A black and crimson dragon, a faceless black demon and a blue demon with red wings all appeared, being enveloped by the rainbow and becoming flashes of light which all merged beneath the hand of the woman. "With these three Malebranche as offering, I beseech thee to join my pilgrimage to the underworld! Fusion summon! Appear now, level nine: Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss (Lv. 9, ATK: 2800)!"

When the light flashed and receded, there stood a man with flowing black hair clad in white and gold armour, holding a wooden staff with an orb set in the end of it.

"Just gets better and better," said Matsuda.

"You have no idea," said Brock. "Now the effects of all three materials activate! Farfa can banish a monster on the field until the end phase, Graff allows me to summon a Burning Abyss monster from my deck and Libic lets me special summon a level three dark fiend from my hand with its effects negated! Farfa will banish your Lavalval Chain!" The spirit of the monster flew up and opened a portal which sucked the fiery sea-serpent in.

"Graff will summon out Alich (Lv. 3, ATK: 1200), and Libic summons another Farfa (Lv. 3, ATK: 1000)!" Alich was a pitch-black humanoid with flowing hair and a small knife of blue fire, appearing beside another Farfa.

"I feel like we may be slightly screwed," said Matsuda.

"Come on," said Kimiko. "You really think these idiots are good enough?"

"I agree with her!" said Daitaro.

"I'll make you regret those words," said Brock. "I overlay my level three Farfa and Alich, creating the overlay network! With these two Malebranche as offering, I beseech thee to show me the safest route you have found on thy travels! Xyz summon, descend! Rank three, Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss (Rk. 3, ATK: 1000)!" A man similar to the Pilgrim came from the xyz portal, this one with his hair tied in a tail and wearing red traveller's clothes.

"You have to admit, though," said Kaneko. "They do seem a lot stronger with these new cards."

Daitaro sniffed. "They're just playing autopilot! Matsuda can smoke 'em, and with that monster in his corner he can't lose. I mean, just look at how she started!"

"Be that as it may," said Kaneko, pushing her glasses up. "It won't be easy."

"Traveller's effect! I can send between one and three cards from the top of my deck to the grave, and he gains five hundred attack points for each one. I'll send three!" He sent the cards and tutted. "Nothing useful, but it doesn't matter!" (Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000-2500)

"You're screwed!" said Hiro.

"Bite me, tagalong," said Matsuda.

"Be cocky after this!" said Brock. "Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss attacks Constellar Hyades!" The man raised his staff, a giant fireball bursting forth to incinerate Hyades (Kimiko &amp; Matsuda: 4000 – 3100). "Now Dante, Traveller attacks you directly!" The traveller took a pair of throwing knives from his belt, the holograms being thrown and embedding themselves into both Matsuda and Kimiko (Kimiko &amp; Matsuda: 3100 – 600).

"You know," said Matsuda, "after some of the attacks I've taken, that was like being tickled."

"Right?" said Kimiko with a smirk. "We're still in this."

Brock grunted. "Not for long. I set a card and end my turn." A reverse card came into being at his feet. "At the end phase, your Chain returns to the field." The monster returned before Kimiko.

"That makes it my turn," said Matsuda, drawing his card.

"Trap, activate!" said Kimiko. "Overlay Re-up! When activated, I can attach this card to an xyz monster I control as an overlay unit, but it can't attack this turn." The card had an image of Number 10: Illumiknight being boosted by a stream of golden light. The card became a ball of light itself, taking orbit around Lavalval Chain.

"In that case," said Matsuda, "I activate Lavalval Chain's effect to send Cosmic HERO Space Walker from my deck to the graveyard!" The monster shot another burst of flame at Matsuda's deck, and he placed the removed card into his graveyard. "Next, I summon out Cosmic HERO Space Pilot (Lv. 3, ATK: 1500)." The severe woman emerged from her card. "With her effect, I can summon back Motivator from my graveyard (Lv. 4, ATK: 1500)!"

The blue-haired man erupted from the ground with a cry of, "believe in the me who believes in you!"

Kimiko sighed. "You watch too much anime."

"I didn't make the card!" said Matsuda, blushing slightly.

"It's bad enough that you get the reference."

"And who are you judge me?! How do you know what it is, huh?"

She just turned away haughtily and said, "I'm a girl. If it has shirtless men in it, it's perfectly acceptable."

"I sense double standards," said Daitaro, chuckling.

"Better not tell her about your Gintama obsession, samurai wannabe!" snapped Matsuda.

"You're all hopeless," said Kimiko.

Hiro opened his mouth to scream at them, but Matsuda cut him off. "Anyway, I'll tune my level four Motivator with the level three Space Pilot. As the spiral turns, see the light of a billion suns! With your heart a supermassive black hole, show the dazzling brilliance of the stars! Synchro summon! Shine, level seven! Cosmic HERO Andromeda (Lv. 7, ATK: 2500)!" Space Pilot's synchro rings engulfed Motivator, who became four white stars before a flash of light came and receded to reveal the ethereal ghost.

"With Motivator's effect," he said, "I draw a card!" He did so, increasing his hand back to seven.

"Alright!" said Daitaro. "He summoned his ace monster, those guys are toast!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Kaneko.

"Now," said Matsuda, "I'll use Andromeda's effect to destroy Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss! Neutron Star Collision!" She held out her hand towards the Pilgrim, but nothing happened, making Brock and Hiro burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's rich," said Brock. "Wrong choice! Pilgrim can't be targeted by your card effects!"

"However," said Kaneko, "it's a mandatory effect. Meaning that if the target isn't valid, he needs to choose another."

"Right!" said Matsuda. "So I guess Traveller goes bye-bye now!" Andromeda once again held out her hand, and the Traveller screamed before shattering.

"Traveller's effect activates!" said Brock. "When it's destroyed, I can add a Burning Abyss card from my grave to my hand, so I'll choose the Drahgig I sent with it last turn!" He showed the card before putting it in his hand. "Now I activate the effect of Pilgrim. I discard a Burning Abyss card and draw one, so I'll send Drahgig!" He did so, and drew one. "Drahgig's effect activates! I'll use your little deck zone trick, so Hiro can put a Burning Abyss card from his deck on top. Hiro, you know what to do!"

"Damn right!" said Hiro. "I place Good &amp; Evil in the Burning Abyss on top of my deck!"

"Alright, I'll just carry on now," said Matsuda. "Andromeda will attack Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss! Black Hole Sun!" The hole in her chest opened up, the gravity drawing the Pilgrim in. He raised his staff ready, however.

"The hell is wrong with you?" said Brock in disbelief.

"You know Pilgrim has higher attack, right?" asked Hiro.

"For now," said Kimiko, smirking.

"That's right! During the damage step, I banish my Cosmic HERO Space Walker to increase Andromeda's attack points by his, meaning eleven-hundred!" (Cosmic HERO Andromeda ATK: 2500 – 3600)

The gravitational force suddenly picked up, and Pilgrim was helpless to resist it, being sucked in and crushed into a singularity. Matsuda gave a satisfied smirk (Brock &amp; Hiro: 4000 – 3200).

"Pilgrim's effect!" said Brock. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can make the opponent send a card from their hand to the graveyard. Kimura, drop that Kaus!" Kimiko did as he told with a scowl, and Matsuda felt a pang of guilt. He had just hamstrung his partner.

"I'll set three cards and end my turn," he said as three face-downs appeared at his feet (Andromeda ATK: 3600 – 2500).

"Then it's mine," said Hiro, embellishing his draw. "I activate Good &amp; Evil in the Burning Abyss! I drop my Farfa and a second Scarm in order to Ritual Summon Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (Lv. 6, ATK: 2700)!" Six pillars faded into existence, the sacrifice of those two monsters lighting a flame on each one. Without warning, the flames erupted into a blaze which quickly died down to reveal a dual-wielding demon with curved horns.

"People still ritual summon?" said Daitaro.

"Don't be stupid," said Kimiko. "Though I know that's difficult for you." Kaneko and Matsuda snickered. "I once knew someone who could wipe the floor with most duelists and he used a ritual deck."

"There are some very powerful ritual strategies," said Kaneko.

"The effect of Farfa will banish that Lavalval Chain once more!" Hiro pointed and again, a portal opened and dragged the sea-serpent to the different dimension. "Now I use the effect of Malacoda! I send Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand to the graveyard to lower Andromeda's attack points by Alich's: twelve-hundred!" The demon swung his left hand sword, the force shrinking Andromeda (Cosmic HERO Andromeda ATK: 2500 – 1300).

"Shit!" said Daitaro. "If the next attack connects, they're done!"

"That's right! It's over, now Malacoda will destroy Cosmic HERO Andromeda!" With its right-hand sword, the Netherlord summoned a torrent of blue fire which incinerated Andromeda, a ghostly wail accompanying her death.

"Trap, activate!" said Matsuda. "Cosmic Life Support! When a Cosmic HERO is destroyed by battle, I take no battle damage and the battle phase ends!" A white space-suit materialised over each Matsuda and Kimiko, preventing the flames from reaching them.

"Tch," said Hiro. "I end my turn, then." Lavalval Chain re-appeared for the second time.

"I'm feeling déjà vu," said Matsuda.

"Can it," said Kimiko. "Hush and marvel at me tearing these morons to pieces, then shower me with praise and worship me."

"Careful," he said, grinning. "Your god complex is beginning to show."

She grinned back. "Kiss my feet. Draw!" She, like Hiro, embellished her draw, turning the card to face her and smirking. "I activate Pot of Desires!" The Pot of Greed came from the card, but turned around to reveal on its back a grotesque purple face with jewels for teeth. "I banish the top ten cards of my deck, face-down, and then draw two!" She took ten cards and pocketed them without looking before drawing two.

"Anything good?" said Matsuda.

She bared her teeth in a predatory grin that he thought made Brock's look like a kitten's, and it almost took his breath away. Again, he was glad she was on his side. "Perfect," she said. "I summon Constellar Sombre (Lv. 4, ATK: 1550)." The monster emerged from its card. "And with this, I can banish a Constellar from my grave to add one back to my hand! I banish Siat and add Kaus!" She took the level one from her graveyard and pocketed it before adding the beast-warrior back to her hand.

"What good does that do you?" said Brock.

Kaneko smirked in the background. "He has no idea what's coming."

"Uh, neither do I," said Daitaro. "Wanna fill me in?"

She sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Just watch, brother."

"Sombre has an additional effect," said Kimiko, her revealed incisors looking positively beastly. Matsuda had to fight down a shiver, but for some reason he couldn't help but be captivated by the sight as she gazed at their opponents, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "I can normal summon once more when I use that first effect!"

Constellar Kaus appeared on the field beside Sombre, rearing up on his hind legs (Lv. 4, ATK: 1800). "Kaus' effect allows me to raise or lower a Constellar's level by one twice per turn, so I'll make them both level five. Now, I overlay my level five Constellars Kaus and Sombre!" The familiar galactic portal opened up on the floor this time, drawing in the forms of both monsters, which quickly became ethereal.

"Knight of stars, complete the circuit of righteousness and descend now to defend all that is just! Xyz summon! Come forth, rank five! Constellar Pleiades!" The flash of light from the portal died down to reveal the knight standing, his sword in a guard (Rk. 5, ATK: 2500).

"So what?" said Hiro. "That monster ain't got shit on Malacoda!"

"I wonder about that," said Kimiko, her voice laced with equal parts venom and delight. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to judge a monster by its attack points? I'm seriously going to enjoy beating that lesson into you. Pleiades effect activates! I detach an overlay unit and bounce a card on the field! Naturally, I choose Malacoda. And since it's not being sent to the graveyard, no effect for you." Pleiades absorbed one of its orbits before swinging his sword, the gust from the action sending Malacoda screaming back into Hiro's hand.

"Aw, shit," said Hiro.

"This is the end! Constellar Pleiades attacks directly!" The monster readied his sword and struck, zooming at the two bullies with enough speed to seriously frighten them.

"Trap, activate!" said Brock. "Burning Guard! By paying five hundred life points, I can negate a direct attack!" A wall of fire blocked Pleiades, and he returned to his place in front of Kimiko, who tutted (Brock &amp; Hiro: 3200 – 2700).

"Did you forget about my Lavalval Chain? Battle!" The forgotten sea-serpent gathered a huge fireball and launched it at Brock.

"Burning Guard's second effect!" he said. "I can banish it from the graveyard to end the battle phase, and all players who control no monsters send a card from their hand to the graveyard!" The wall of fire again appeared, cancelling out Chain's attack. Matsuda grumbled as he sent a card, though he supposed he had indirectly caused trouble for Kimiko, so he couldn't complain about this.

"I send Malacoda," said Hiro, "and his effect destroys Pleiades!" The demon appeared only to drag Pleiades to the grave with it.

"I send my own Malacoda," said Brock, "to destroy Chain!" The same thing happened, Chain being dragged to the pits of hell.

Kimiko narrowed her eyes. "You might have survived this turn, but I will get my hands on you, and I _will _make you suffer at least as much as you deserve. I set a card and end my turn."

Both Matsuda and Daitaro shuddered. "And she says she's not a monster," Daitaro said.

Brock chuckled. "Damn, you're a feisty one. But we won't be losing, because I'll finish it this turn! Draw!" He drew his card and smirked. "I activate Burning Reborn! I can special summon two Burning Abyss monsters from my graveyard ignoring summoning conditions, but their effects are negated and they can't attack." A fiery lake covered in what looked like gravestones spawned into existence.

"I don't like the look of this," said Matsuda.

"Don't worry," said Kimiko. "We're covered, right?"

He smirked. It seemed she could read him like a book, since he knew he could stop whatever was coming.

"I revive Malacoda and Virgil!" said Brock, the aforementioned monsters rising from the flames. "Now I'll overlay my level six Malacoda and Virgil. O great goddess, with these two pawns as offering I beseech thee to lend me thy divine power!" The two monsters were absorbed into the overlay portal, which gave a flash that receded to reveal a beautiful white-robed woman with long white hair. "Xyz summon! Descend now, rank six! Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal (Rk. 6, ATK: 2500)!"

"What a terrifying sight," said Matsuda dryly.

"I may need new pants," said Kimiko with an equal level of sarcasm.

"You won't be talking after I activate her effect!" said Brock, his face contorting in rage. "I detach an overlay unit to send a card from my deck to my graveyard!" Beatrice absorbed a unit and began singing a heavenly song, her voice both powerful and soothing. "I'll send Calcab to the grave, and use his effect to return a set spell or trap to the hand, so say goodbye to the left-hand one, Yukaro!" Beatrice all but threw the spirit of Calcab, which grabbed the set card and deposited it back in his hand.

Matsuda blanched. Damn it, his defence! "Had to be that one…"

Brock grinned. "Seems I made the right choice, huh? Now, Beatrice, finish those turds off and get me that damn card!" She charged up an orb of light, shooting it at Kimiko like a cannon.

"Have they lost?" said Daitaro.

"Not likely," said Kimiko. "Reverse card, open! Negate Attack!" The familiar vortex appeared and absorbed Beatrice's strike.

"Tch," said Brock. "Turn end."

Kimiko smouldered, her eyes filling with darkness and anger, narrowing to slits. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea what this card means? Do you have any sort of clue how much danger the world would be in if it was in the wrong hands? How much I've had to lose to fight those hands?!"

Brock just laughed. "My god, you two are such fucking martyrs! It's all about protecting people, all that happy happy-joy joy bullshit about being stronger with your friends, well guess what! The world ain't so kind! Nobody gives a shit about you or anyone else, so you just gotta look out for yourself."

"You're wrong!" said Matsuda, his head bowed such that his hair hid his eyes. He clenched his fist, trembling with his whole body. "Maybe people are like that, but so what?! Even if everyone else would turn their head to someone in need, isn't that more reason for me to protect them?! However cruel the world may be, I'll live the way I choose to, and I choose to believe in the bonds I share with my friends! If I continue to believe and never give up, those bonds will open up a new path and create a miracle! And with the strength that gives me, I'll end this in one strike! Draw!"

He practically ripped the top card from his deck, a shining trail of light illuminating its path behind it. He turned the card to face him and smirked; a combo completed itself in his mind's eye and he saw a single, shining light: the monster that would gain him victory. "It's here!"

Daitaro grinned. "Sounds like he has the winning piece!"

"It would seem so," said Kaneko.

"I activate the spell card One for One! I discard a monster and special summon a level one monster from my deck!" He paid the cost, and pulled a card from his deck. "I special summon Cosmic HERO Data Dog (Lv. 1, DEF: 100)!" The tiny Welsh corgi popped into existence with an adorable bark.

"Aw," said Kaneko. "Doggy."

"Next up, I'll normal summon Cosmic HERO Infernus (Lv. 3, ATK: 1300)!" The air in front of him suddenly burst into flames which took a humanoid shape. "Data Dog is treated as a level two monster for the synchro summon of a Cosmic HERO monster, so I'll tune my level three Infernus with my level two Data Dog!" Data Dog became the two green rings, which surrounded the flame-man and turned him into three stars.

"The brightest in my sky, heed my call! With your fellows, your bonds create the system of hope! Synchro summon! Shine, level five! Cosmic HERO Sirius!" Even as the light from the synchro summon faded, a new light was present, one in the shape of a shaggy dog with a katana jutting from its head (Lv. 5, ATK: 2100).

"So what?" said Hiro. "It can't touch Beatrice!"

Kimiko tutted, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Have you already forgotten your lesson, trash?"

"Sirius' effect! Through the bonds he shares with his comrades, he can call them to fight by his side. I pay five hundred life points (Kimiko &amp; Matsuda: 600 – 100) to special summon a Cosmic HERO from my deck. I'll bring out Cosmic HERO Astronaut!" A humanoid figure in a nineteen-sixties space suit was created from a light that separated from Sirius (Lv. 4, ATK: 1600).

"I still don't see where this is going," said Hiro.

"You're about to get your ass kicked, that's where it's going!" said Daitaro.

"No-one asked you, peanut gallery!" said Brock.

Matsuda smirked. "The peanut gallery's right. Astronaut's effect allows me to target one monster on the field and increase its attack points by five hundred. The monster I choose is…" he slowly brought up his finger to point. "Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal!" Everyone was shocked by this declaration, including Kimiko, who eyed her partner suspiciously.

"What are you planning?" she said.

"To win," he said as Astronaut produced an oxygen tank which it then attached to Beatrice, allowing her to breathe deeply (Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal ATK: 2500 – 3000). "Now I'll tune my level five Sirius with the level four Astronaut!" Astronaut turned into four green rings, which overlapped with Sirius, who became stars and a flash of light in quick succession.

"Another synchro?" said Daitaro. "Awesome!"

"I don't remember him ever having a level nine synchro monster before," said Kaneko.

"Shine your dazzling light down, and lend me your unshakeable power! With the light of hope formed through unbreakable bonds, purge the world of evil! Synchro summon! Shine, level nine, Cosmic HERO Eridani!" When the light faded, there stood a man wearing nothing but a loincloth. He was bald and heavily-built, with a scarred face. In both hands he held a shining greatsword, its radiance enough to obscure its own form (Lv. 9, ATK: 2700).

Brock and Hiro laughed in unison. "Idiot!" said Brock. "It could have beaten Beatrice before, but now you just made it impossible for yourself!"

Matsuda's temper flared slightly, but he pushed it down. After all, as Kimiko had said, idiots were idiots. "I'm not aiming to beat Beatrice," he said. "Just to beat you. When my opponent controls a monster with greater attack points than it, Eridani can attack you directly!"

"Like hell!" snarled Brock. "I use Beatrice's effect, detaching an overlay unit to yard Alich from my deck! With that, your monster's effect is negated!"

"I wonder about that," said Matsuda. "Trap, activate! Irresistible Force!" Kimiko smiled. Even as Beatrice threw the spirit of Alich at the warrior, an invisible force pulled it into wispy pieces. "When an effect that would negate the effect of a card on the field is activated, I discard a card and negate that effect!" He sent the final card in his hand to the graveyard as Alich was nullified.

"Now would be the time to grovel," said Kimiko with a destructive smirk. "But it won't help."

"Cosmic HERO Eridani attacks the players directly! Go, Hope Bringer!" The monster disappeared and re-appeared in front of Brock and Hiro, a wide horizontal slash cutting across them both (Brock &amp; Hiro: 2700 – 0).

Hiro dropped to his knees, and Brock looked ready to break down. Tears of rage flew from eyes as his face contorted and he pulled the gun from his waistband, levelling it on Kimiko, then Matsuda, constantly switching targets between them. "Fuck you guys! You would have taken the offer too, y'know! I'll just kill you; yeah, I'll kill you and take the card back to her and keep getting stronger!"

Kimiko's eyes narrowed and she strained to keep her face from splitting. She stepped towards him deliberately, each step making him shake more. "I'll do it, I'll fucking do it! Don't come any closer, dammit!"

"So do it," she said coolly. "I invite you to!" Her voice became more maniacal as she launched herself towards him, easily wrenching the weapon from his hand before elbowing him in the gut hard enough to drop him to his hands and knees. A grin split her face as she grabbed the back of his head and jammed his face into the floor, rubbing it into the paving.

"Brutal," said Daitaro as he and Kaneko approached.

"What's the matter?" said Kimiko. "Aren't you going to kill us?!" She removed her hand, only to deliver a thunderous kick to the jaw which Matsuda could swear he heard breaking important things, and he cringed. Sure, Brock was an asshole, but wasn't this going a little too far? Hiro found his senses and thought better of intervening, taking Brock's advice to look out for himself and sprinting away as fast as he could.

Kimiko wasn't finished. She carefully placed Brock's upper jaw on the paving and, with one swift stamp, curb-stomped him. Teeth flew everywhere, and the American gave a strangled cry as blood flowed freely from his mouth. Kimiko didn't look ready to stop, but Matsuda grabbed her under the armpits and pulled her away. "You've done enough! Stop, please! Stop!" he said, eyes wide and voice strained with desperation.

She turned to him, and the sight terrified him. The maniacal grin she wore was nothing short of sadistic, both beautiful and terrible. Her eyes shone with something he could not identify, but something that made him want to dig a hole and pull it in after him all the same. Her giggle was the same; he almost collapsed away then, but he held his resolve and just stared into her eyes, hoping to any and all deities that his gaze was sympathetic and understanding.

Evidently it was enough, and the haze that had come over her cleared, leaving her eyes once again the beautiful pools of ice he had come to know. "You're right," she murmured. "I'm sorry. I don't…"

"Shouldn't have stopped her," said Daitaro. "He deserved more."

Kimiko just looked down at her shoes, before levelling her gaze on Matsuda. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Hey," he said. "If Daitaro can handle it all the time, I can definitely put up with it for a few seconds." He grinned, despite the fear that still twinged in his gut.

"Not sure if that was an insult or not," said Daitaro.

"Always assume so," said Kaneko. "You are the designated butt of the joke, after all."

"I'll let that slide for now. You two! I believe we were promised an explanation."

Kimiko glared at him, her icy eyes piercing through him like needles. He shrunk away, completely cowed, and she laughed. It was a warm laugh, high and full of humour, and Matsuda thought that it was one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. He'd make sure to hear it again, then.

"That will never get old," said Kimiko.

"Oh, good," said Kaneko. "She enjoys tormenting Daitaro too. You'll fit in wonderfully, Kimura."

Daitaro's face fell and Kimiko smiled at Kaneko before turning to Matsuda. "Yukaro."

"Yeah?" he said.

She reached into her jacket, offering a sleeved card out to him. "Miyano told me I should give this to you. I was still unsure, but after hearing what you said there, I think you're the best person to hold it."

Matsuda was dumbfounded. "Wait, is that…"

"Yes, it is," she said. "According to him, his employer said something like 'a card is meant to be used. It seeks out the one whose soul resonates with it the most, and for that card, that soul is undoubtedly Matsuda Yukaro's'. So take it."

Matsuda offered her a smile and took the card, looking at it. It was called Soldier of Entropy, a level ten monster with three thousand attack and defence. He pocketed it and said, "I'll keep it safe."

"I believe in you," she replied. "In our bond."

"Yo!" said Daitaro. "Touching moment over, yeah? Now I know what it feels like to be Matsuda, 'cause I am burning with curiosity over here. What the hell is going on?!"

"Shouldn't we leave before we're implicated in an aggravated assault?" said Kaneko.

"Point," said Matsuda. "Let's go crash Kenta's place."

Kimiko groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Uh, who?" said Daitaro.

"The most annoying little brat you will ever meet," said Kimiko.

* * *

In a dark room, the air was still aside from the uncontrollable obnoxious laughter permeating the silence. "So let me get this straight," said Yamato, teary-eyed, "you lost to a bunch of kids, fair enough. But after that, the guy you bribed to act as an agent gets his ass kicked so bad he ends up in the hospital! Oh, god, that's rich; Miranda, and you talked down to me for losing!"

A vein popped out of Miranda's forehead. "Why don't I kill you, Yamato?" she said, her voice cold and full of anger.

"Peace, both of you," said the large man sat in shadows behind his desk, his voice impossible deep. "Though she lost, Miranda has undoubtedly succeeded in other areas. For one, we have all but confirmed that the Kimura girl holds the Key. For another, we know of the existence of a third party."

Miranda narrowed her eyes, fighting back tears. Why the hell had the brat looked so much like him? Was it that man's idea of a sick joke? "Without a doubt, it's that man," she said. "If he moves on us before we obtain our wishes, we're in trouble."

"You may yet overestimate him, he who hides in his castle at the centre of it all, watching but never doing, only monitoring, never participating, never influencing. He will be no danger."

"It's you who underestimates him!" Miranda snapped. "Dante is the Keeper for a reason!"

Yamato smirked. He hadn't factored Dante's involvement into his plan, but it certainly opened up some interesting possibilities.

"His agent shall be swiftly dealt with," said the shadowed man. "Worry not. We shall proceed as planned. Yamato, Enzo is qualified, as is the Kimura girl; you are stuck on three points. Rectify this immediately."

"Of course, sir," said Yamato. "I'll qualify first thing tomorrow."

* * *

AN: You probably can't do that in tag duels. That's my solution to any duel-related problems I encounter: just make shit up. As usual, if you have anything to say, at all, please review. Even if it's just to let me know you're enjoying it; reviews motivate me to write faster, y'know. And the criticisms always help. Oh, and I made a TVTropes page for this story, so feel free to go check it out and contribute. On a side note, if anyone reading has DevPro and peruses the English channel on the chat, you can often find me there under the name the_crowing, so if you see me there feel free to duel me. I'm often making fun of LordYuri and his PredaPlant obsession or telling people how to play DDDs properly (I need me that structure deck!). I might come up with a Christmas one-shot if I feel like it, but don't hold your breath, I have a novel to write too. Until next time, folks.

Cosmic HERO Astronaut  
EARTH/Warrior/Tuner  
Level 4  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 1300  
When this card is summoned: you can target 1 monster on the field; increase its ATK by 500 until the end phase.

Cosmic HERO Sirius  
LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 5  
ATK: 2100 DEF: 1900  
1 tuner monster + 1 or more non-tuner monsters.  
Once per turn: You can pay 500 life points; activate one of the two following effects:

Special summon 1 level 4 or lower Cosmic HERO monster

Draw 1 card.

Cosmic HERO Eridani  
LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
Level 9  
ATK: 2700 DEF:2100  
1 tuner monster + 1 or more non-tuner synchro monsters.  
This card cannot be targeted for attacks if there is another Cosmic HERO monster on your side of the field. If your opponent controls a monster with higher ATK than this monster: this monster can attack your opponent directly.

Burning Reborn  
Normal Spell  
Target 2 'Burning Abyss' monsters in your graveyard; special summon them with their effects negated, and they cannot declare an attack.

Overlay Re-up  
Normal Trap  
Target 1 Xyz monster you control; attach this card to it as an Xyz material. It cannot declare an attack this turn.

Cosmic Life Support  
Normal Trap  
When a 'Cosmic HERO' monster you control is destroyed by battle: you take no damage from that battle, and the battle phase ends.

Burning Guard  
Normal Trap  
When your opponent declares a direct attack: pay 500 lifepoints; negate that attack. When this card is in your graveyard: you can banish it; end the battle phase, and if you do, any player who controls no monsters sends 1 card from their hand to the graveyard.


End file.
